Dive Brief:
- The Blackstone Group is acquiring physician staffing behemoth TeamHealth Holdings for $6.1 billion.
- Under terms of the agreement, Blackstone will purchase all outstanding shares of TeamHealth for $43.50 per share in cash — roughly 33% more than TeamHealth’s Oct. 3 closing price.
- A 40-day “go-shop” period, during which both parties can solicit, receive and assess alternative proposals is also included in the agreement. TeamHealth’s board is recommending shareholders approve the deal.
Dive Insight:
TeamHealth President and CEO Leif Murray said the deal would not affect the company’s focus on innovation in an evolving U.S. healthcare market. “We continue to believe that TeamHealth is uniquely positioned to leverage our national scale and functional expertise to drive high quality patient care, operational efficiencies and physician satisfaction in hospital-based and post-acute settings,” Murray said.
As part of the deal, hedge fund Jana Partners will sell its approximately 8% stake in TeamHealth. Jana is TeamHealth’s third-largest shareholder, after Wellington Management and Fidelity Management & Research, according to Modern Healthcare.
The deal comes as Knoxville, TN-based TeamHealth is about to be outsized by the merger of patient staffing firms Envision Healthcare and AmSurg. That deal, which is expected to close this month, will create a combined company with about $8.5 billion in annual sales, compared to TeamHealth’s $3.6 billion in revenues in 2015. Ironically, TeamHealth turned down repeated offers from AmSurg last year.
If approved by TeamHealth shareholders, the deal would still be subject to regulatory approvals. However, the companies expect it to close in the first quarter of 2017.