Elliott Management, led by activist investor Paul Singer, has taken a 9.2% stake in Athenahealth.
News of the deal, made earlier this month, came in the form of a Securities and Exchange Commission filing released Thursday. According to the filing, Elliott now has a 9.2% stake in Athenahealth.
After the news emerged, the company's shares jumped by more than 17% Thursday, bringing the cloud-based services company's market value to upwards of $5 billion.
Singer, who's also a philanthropist and activist, thinks Athenahealth's securities are "significantly undervalued," according to the filing, and that Athenahealth has a "disruptive value proposition, a leading competitive position and a compelling product set." The filing does not specify the directions Singer might try to steer the company, though it does not that there are "numerous operational and strategic opportunities to maixmize shareholder value" about which Singer will talk to Athenahealth's board of directors.
David Muntz, a principal at Starbridge Advisors, thinks the new arrangement will benefit Athenahealth. "Jonathan Bush obviously has strong opinions and is direct in his challenges to the status quo," he said of Athenahealth's CEO. "It seems on the surface that his new 10% owner is a good fit with the culture."
The boost in shares follows a dip a couple of weeks ago in response to a disappointing first quarter. The company faced slow onboarding onto its network and low claims and collections volumes in the beginning of the year.
