Blackstone and Omers have each put multibillion-dollar healthcare services companies up for sale, as private equity groups seek to offload their investments in a push to return cash to investors, according to people familiar with the matter.
Private equity giant Blackstone has hired advisers to work on a sale of its majority stake in health insurance software provider HealthEdge, hoping to clinch a deal that values the company at more than $2.5bn, three people said.
Meanwhile, Omers, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, is also working with advisers to sell Premise Health, which operates one of the biggest direct-access care networks in the US, seeking a valuation of about $2bn, the people added.
The two auction processes come as private equity groups gear up to exit a wave of investments in the healthcare sector and beyond, after high interest rates constrained sponsor-backed deals in recent years.
Blackstone and Omers both declined to comment. HealthEdge and Premise did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Investments in 2,700 healthcare companies had been held by buyout funds for six years or more as of last November, up from 2,100 companies five years earlier, putting the sector on a footing for “an imminent increase in sponsor exits” in 2025, Bain & Company predicted in a report last year.
The people cautioned that both sale processes were at an early stage and might not result in deals, as the owners could decide to hold on to their investments. Both companies would probably receive interest from other private equity groups, they added.
Blackstone last tested interest in HealthEdge in 2022, but the sale process failed to result in a deal. HealthEdge received a minority investment from Philippe Laffont’s hedge fund Coatue Management in 2021, valuing the group at about $2bn.
HealthEdge, which according to one of the people generated between $100mn and $120mn in earnings last year, offers novel software for health insurers to modernise their systems, which eases the process behind designing healthcare plans and making decisions about claims.
Premise, which was founded in 1964, has through a series of acquisitions grown to become one of the biggest direct-access care networks in the US, operating 800 wellness centres in 46 states to meet the needs of more than 2,500 employers signed up to its plans.
Both sales will mark profitable exits for the private equity groups if completed. Omers first backed Premise in 2018 in a deal worth just over $1bn including debt, while Blackstone bought a majority stake in HealthEdge in 2020 valuing the business at about $700mn.