KKR & Co. will buy Envision Healthcare Corp. for $46 a share after an almost yearlong sale process for the medical company, which staffs hospitals and runs surgery centers in the U.S.
The all-cash deal values Envision at $5.57 billion. Including debt, the acquisition is valued at $9.9 billion, the healthcare company said in a statement.
Investors such as KKR and strategic buyers including health insurers have been snapping up healthcare assets in the U.S. Last year, KKR finished raising money for a $1.45 billion healthcare fund dedicated to growth stage companies. Health insurance and services giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. has acquired a string of medical practices, and drugstore chain CVS Health Corp. is buying insurer Aetna Inc., with the goal of making CVS’s retail locations hubs for health services.
Envision’s strategic review started shortly after activist investor Starboard Value, run by Jeff Smith, revealed a stake in the company and said it would make an attractive takeover target. Corvex Management, another activist firm and shareholder, reduced most of its holdings in the first quarter.
