Allscripts plans leveraged buyout from Blackstone, Carlyle

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc is planning a leveraged buyout, secured first-round bids from private equity companies like Blackstone Group LP, Carlyle Group LP, and Silver Lake Management LLC.

The company, aiming to be taken private after a board shake up and a second-biggest shareholder this year wants second-round offer within three to four weeks. 

The electronic health-records company, which is using Citigroup Inc, to run the sales process, has been interviewing other banks to add a second financial adviser.

It has struggled to increase the new business after its 2010 buyout of Eclipsys Corp. Meanwhile, in April, the Chicago-based company fired Chairman Phil Pead and saw the three directors leave with him in protest. Leo Carpio, an analyst at Caris & Co said, “The loss of a bid last month to manage the record systems for New York City public hospitals also may have hiked the pressure for sale.” 

HealthCor Management LP, which held 7.4% of the common stock outstanding as of June 30, sued Allscripts in May after the board shake up.

The New York-based HealthCor dropped the lawsuit a month later when Allscripts decided to nominate three independent directors to the board. The company lost a bid for a $302 million contract to supply its technology to New York City’s public hospitals on September 27.

Allscripts provides innovative solutions that empower the stakeholders across the healthcare continuum to deliver world-class outcomes. It was founded in 1986 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The company’s key operations are in Burlington, Vermont, and Raleigh, North Carolina.