$1.4-billion bid accepted by TriZetto
TriZetto Group Inc., a Newport Beach-based healthcare technology company, said Friday that it had accepted a $1.4-billion takeover offer from a private equity fund in London.
Apax Partners plans to pay $22 a share to privatize TriZetto, which sells software and Internet services to healthcare clients. Apax, which manages $35 billion in assets, said the offer represented a 29% premium over TriZetto’s average stock price during the previous 30 days.
TriZetto’s shares jumped $2.72, or 15.4%, to $20.39 on Friday.
“Apax Partners . . . provides an outstanding opportunity to accelerate solutions development investments on behalf of our payer customers to create an integrated linkage among consumers, providers, employers and brokers,” Jeff Margolis, TriZetto’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Faced with the credit crunch, investment banks have started to shy away from financing large acquisitions for leveraged buyout investors such as Apax. As a result, those firms have turned to smaller transactions such as the one for TriZetto.
Two TriZetto customers, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and Regence Group, are also funding the acquisition and will be investors when the company goes private. TriZetto’s board approved the purchase, which is expected to be finalized within four to six months.
TriZetto said its products, staff and facility locations were unlikely to be affected by the change in ownership.
Apax has recently acquired and invested in several other drug and hospital groups around the world, including Qualitest Pharmaceuticals and Vintage Pharmaceuticals of Huntsville, Ala., and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise of India.
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