M-Modal to go private in deal with JPMorgan Chase

(Story updated at 9:05 a.m. ET.)

M-Modal, the clinical documentation and speech recognition services firm based in Franklin, Tenn., has agreed to become a private company in a $1.1 billion acquisition by an equity arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. called One Equity Partners.

The all-cash deal would pay M-Modal investors $14 per share, which would be 8% above the company's closing price Monday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and 33% more than the one-year weighted average price, an announcement from the companies said.

The board of directors at M-Modal has already approved the transaction at $14 per share, and One Equity Partners is expected to begin a tender offer for all outstanding shares of the company by July 17. The deal is contingent on getting at least a majority of shareholders to tender their shares. The largest single shareholder—S.A.C. Private Capital Group, a subsidiary of Siris Capital Group and owner of 31% of the company—has agreed to sell, M-Modal said.

If the deal is completed, all remaining shares would be converted into the right to receive $14 per share in the tender offer. The deal also requires approval through the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review process.

Franklin, Tenn.-based MedQuist announced in July 2011 that it had agreed to acquire M-Modal, then based in Pittsburgh, for $130 million.

MedQuist then changed its name to M-Modal in January and has been appointing executives since then.