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Private equity groups Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners are working on a sale of US software group Ensemble Health Partners, which could value the business at as much as $12bn including debt.
Ensemble’s majority owners are in the process of hiring advisers to guide a possible sale, which could result in the private equity groups offloading the whole business or a stake, according to two people familiar with the matter.
A deal would mark a speedy and profitable exit for Warburg Pincus and Berkshire, which bought a large stake in the business valuing it at an enterprise value of about $5bn in 2021. The private equity groups could opt to hold on to the asset if no buyer emerges, the people warned.
Ensemble will probably draw interest from other private equity groups and some strategic buyers. Ohio-based Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the US top-20 largest healthcare systems, which is a commercial partner of Ensemble, also owns a small shareholding in the business, a legacy from when it used to own the company.
The push to offload Ensemble comes during a fallow period for mergers and acquisitions activity as uncertainty over the impact of tariffs, swings in markets and stubbornly high interest rates under US President Donald Trump’s administration have hindered private equity dealmaking.
Healthcare services and software deals have proved to be a relative bright spots for dealmaking, however, as the companies’ supply chains tend to be more insulated from the tariffs impact. Ensemble works with more than 300 hospitals across the US, providing billing and revenue cycle management solutions.
Warburg Pincus declined to comment. Berkshire Partners and Bon Secours did not respond to requests for comment.
Warburg Pincus, which has more than $87bn of assets under management, earlier this year sold its majority stake in medical software provider Modernizing Medicine, valuing the business at $5.3bn. Healthcare supply chain management company Global Healthcare Exchange, which is co-owned by Warburg Pincus and Temasek, is also on the block for a valuation of about $5bn.
Despite dealmaking slowing down because of market uncertainty, there have been three sponsor-backed deals valued at more than $10bn this year: Sycamore Partners’ $24bn buyout of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Thoma Bravo’s $10.6bn acquisition of Boeing’s software unit and 3G Capital’s $10.5bn takeover of shoes brand Skechers.
