Blackstone acquire TeamHealth in $6.1bn deal
Private equity firm Blackstone is to acquire TeamHealth in a deal estimated to be valued at $6.1bn (£5.0bn).
The firm, which offers outsourced emergency medicines and care solutions to around 3,400 facilities in the US, will be taken over by the first quarter of 2017, if approved by TeamHealth's board.
The merger includes a "go shop" period where TeamHealth can seek other offers during a 40-day period.
Blackstone is expected to pay $43.50 per share in cash, a premium of around 18 per cent on Friday's closing share price.
Goldman Sachs acted as lead financial adviser with Citi also acting as co-financial adviser to TeamHealth. Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Blackstone.
Read more: Blackstone group tops third quarter results
"We are pleased to reach this agreement with Blackstone, which maximises value for all TeamHealth stockholders," said Leif Murphy, president and chief executive of TeamHealth. "Blackstone is focused on working closely with TeamHealth to achieve our strategic objectives and drive innovation and operational excellence in the context of the evolving U.S. healthcare marketplace."
Neil Simpkins, a senior managing director at Blackstone, commented:
We are thrilled to have the opportunity to invest in TeamHealth and once again partner with such an experienced management team and high quality business. We look forward to supporting TeamHealth during the next phase of its development.
Last week Blackstone announced its managed assets climed eight per cent to a record high of $361bn.
It was also announced that Chinese-based HNA was to buy 25 per cent of Hilton's shares from Blackstone. It bought the chain for $26bn in 2007, and will see its share of the business drop to 21 per cent when the deal goes through.