M & A, Alliances

Integro Integrates Frost Specialty

August 18, 2010

Integro, an insurance broker and risk management firm, has acquired Frost Specialty LLC, a Nashville-based insurance agency for music industry specializing in country and Christian music. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to a release.

Frost’s services include a country and Christian touring artists program, a group copyright infringement program and a musical instrument program that the company also extends services to the entertainment and sports industries. Robert Frost will continue to lead the company, and will take on the role of one of Integro’s managing principals. Frost also will lead Integro’s Nashville office.

Benefitfocus Acquires Benefits Informatics

August 16, 2010

Benefitfocus, a healthcare and volunteer benefits software provider, has acquired Benefits Informatics Inc., an Oklahoma-based benefit information management company and data analytics technology and services provider, in a transaction is designed to add claims data analytics, data warehousing, trending, forecasting and financial analysis to the Benefitfocus Platform. The acquisition will add 2.7 million members to the Benefitfocus Platform membership base. Benefit Informatics will continue to run under its current management.

Benefitfocus’ technology, which follows the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, is designed for CFOs, benefit administrators, human resource managers and their consultants. The program is designed to predict increases in claims and pharmacy expenses, audit for fraud, and allow users to pare down plans from the overall health plan level to the individual member explanation of benefits (EOB) level.

Marsh & McLennan Completes Kroll Sale

August 5, 2010

Marsh & McLennan Cos. completed the sale of its risk consulting business, Kroll Inc., to Altegrity Inc., a firm led by former Marsh CEO Michael Cherkasky, for $1.13 billion in cash, less than the amount the insurance broker paid for it six years ago, according to reports.

New York-based Kroll employs 3,000 people and focuses on investigative, intelligence, financial, security and technology services.

The deal was announced in June. Marsh & McLennan competes openly with Aon, which agreed to purchase consulting firm Hewitt Associates. Marsh & McLennan has maintained that the sale allows the firm to stay true to its long-term strategy, developing its risk and insurance services and consulting businesses.

For Marsh—MMC's main insurance business—revenue rose 9% to $1.2 billion.

Altegrity, based in Falls Church, Va., is an international screening and security solutions company owned by global private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

TPG Capital Completes Vertafore Acquisition

July 30, 2010

Vertafore, a provider of software and services to the insurance industry, announced the completion of its acquisition by investment funds managed by TPG Capital. The deal was first announced on June 10, 2010. TPG purchased the company from Hellman & Friedman and its co-investor JMI Equity for a total consideration of $1.4 billion.

“We are pleased to move forward with TPG as our new partner,” says Euan Menzies, president and CEO at Vertafore. ”They recognize the value we have built and they share our vision for a successful future.”

The acquisition was funded with a combination of investor capital and financing arranged through Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and RBC Capital Markets.

“Through innovation, steady growth, and strong leadership, Vertafore’s products have become essential to the insurance industry,” says John Marren, a partner at TPG.  "We are pleased to be partnering with Vertafore’s talented management team to achieve the company’s next phase of growth."

Ingenix to Acquire Picis

July 26, 2010

Ingenix, the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based information technology subsidiary of health insurer UnitedHealth Group, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Picis Inc., which sells clinical and financial information systems for high-acuity areas of hospitals. Terms of the acquisition, expected to close in the third quarter, were not disclosed.

Wakefield, Mass.-based Picis' systems cover emergency, surgical and intensive care departments, with installs in 1,900 sites in 19 nations. Ingenix is best known for its coding and revenue cycle management software, claims clearinghouse services and data analytics technologies, but also sells ambulatory practice management and electronic health records systems.

Combining the companies will give Picis access to additional resources, including analytics expertise, according to the companies. The acquisition will extend Ingenix's reach into the clinical arena and provide new cross-selling opportunities for its products in the high-acuity departments.

Todd Cozzens, CEO at Picis, will remain and the company will continue its operations in Massachusetts and other offices in the United States and Europe. Privately held Picis' revenue has increased at least 50 percent annually since 2001 and it has been profitable for "a number of years" according to the company.

This story has been reprinted with permission from Health Data Management.

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