Emdeon Inc. buying Altegra Health for $910M

Emdeon Inc. is in the process of buying Altegra Health, a data aggregation and analytics company, for about $910 million.

Nashville-based Emdeon will combine Altegra with its existing Intelligent Healthcare Network, enabling the company to offer products to clients that help improve care quality and customer experience.

“Our health plan, provider and pharmacy customers look to Emdeon for innovative solutions to their most challenging problems,” Emdeon president and CEO Neil de Crescenzo said in statement. “By adding these capabilities and leveraging our Intelligent Healthcare Network, we can further expand the products and services we provide our customers as they address the needs of value-based health care.”

De Crescenzo said the acquisition will allow health plans, along with other health care organizations, to better manage care, track reimbursement and help people improve “their use of the health care system.”

Altegra Health is headquartered in Miami Lakes, Fla., and operates in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Emdeon processed approximately 8.1 billion transactions in 2014 and $1 trillion in claims annually.

Emdeon will finance the acquisition with cash along with proceeds from debt and equity raises. The company has received commitments from lenders but the financing is not yet finalized, said Tommy Lewis, senior vice president of growth initiatives at Emdeon.

An Emdeon spokeswoman declined to comment further on the deal or the integration plans until the deal closes. The acquisition could be finalized next month.

Reach Reade Pickert at 615-259-8836 and on Twitter @Readep.