Premier healthcare alliance member-owners now have the chance to convert their shares and sell their stock in the firm, a year after the company went public.
Premier is a Charlotte, N.C.-based group purchasing organization that also provides data and analytics tools and services to hospitals and other healthcare providers. It is one of two publicly traded GPOs on the market.
As a result of Premier's initial public offering in October 2013, its hospital member-owners can sell one-seventh of their shares each year for seven years, which allows them to monetize their ownership in Premier for the first time. Securities filings posted earlier this month show that 56 hospital stockholders on Oct. 31 planned to exchange 4.7 million Class B shares for public Class A shares.
Prior to Oct. 31, the company's member-owners owned about 80% of Premier. That percentage is expected to go down slightly as a result of the share exchange, according to a Premier spokesman.
Premier has 20 business days to complete its secondary offering. Once the offering is priced, member-owners not participating in the offering can sell their shares after 60 more days.
Michael Cherny, a managing director and analyst for ISI Group, said the company's performance since its IPO has been “remarkably consistent.” Premier has reported steady growth, particularly in net administrative fees, and has made deals that augment its technology offering, he said.
Premier has made five deals in the last year and a half, most recently spending $48.5 million to buy Aperek, a software-as-a-service supply chain services provider, and another $117 million on TheraDoc, a clinical surveillance software company.
MedAssets, the other publicly traded GPO, in August announced its first deal since 2010. It will spend $142 million to acquire Sg2, a Skokie, Ill.-based provider of healthcare analytics, market intelligence and clinical consulting.
Follow Jaimy Lee on Twitter: @MHjlee
