Shares of Athenahealth opened more than 20% higher on Monday after Paul Singer's Elliott Management offered to buy the healthcare technology company in an all-cash deal valued at $160 per share.
Elliott's offer represents a 27% premium to Athenahealth's closing price on Friday. The activist firm originally took a 9.2% stake in ATHN about a year ago and on Monday said its current stake was now 8.9%.
Athenahealth is a provider of network-enabled services for healthcare and point-of-care mobile applications. The company was co-founded by Jonathan Bush, President George W. Bush's polarizing cousin. Bush still serves as Athenahealth's CEO.
In an open letter to Athenahealth's executive team, Elliott said it has had positive discussions with management, “and we greatly appreciate how much time the management team, led by Jonathan, and the Board have invested in evaluating our perspectives as well as the perspectives of our fellow shareholders.”
Nevertheless, Elliott said that Athenahealth “revealed an unwillingness” to consider alternative options for achieving shareholder value. The firm apparently approached Athenahealth last fall in regards to a take-private deal, and Bush's company “refused to engage.”
“Unfortunately, we are faced now with the stark reality that athenahealth as a public-company investment, despite all of its promise, has not worked for many years, is not working today and will not work in the future,” Elliott said.
Shares of Athenahealth have been an up-and-down ride over the past few years, with the stock struggling to generate upward momentum. The stock is down more than 35% from its all-time high achieved more than four years ago. Elliott's proposal could be worth up to $7 billion, including debt.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
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Why Did Athenahealth (ATHN) Stock Soar Today?
Shares of Athenahealth opened more than 20% higher on Monday after Paul Singer's Elliott Management offered to buy the healthcare technology company in an all-cash deal valued at $160 per share.
Elliott's offer represents a 27% premium to Athenahealth's closing price on Friday. The activist firm originally took a 9.2% stake in ATHN about a year ago and on Monday said its current stake was now 8.9%.
Athenahealth is a provider of network-enabled services for healthcare and point-of-care mobile applications. The company was co-founded by Jonathan Bush, President George W. Bush's polarizing cousin. Bush still serves as Athenahealth's CEO.
In an open letter to Athenahealth's executive team, Elliott said it has had positive discussions with management, “and we greatly appreciate how much time the management team, led by Jonathan, and the Board have invested in evaluating our perspectives as well as the perspectives of our fellow shareholders.”
Nevertheless, Elliott said that Athenahealth “revealed an unwillingness” to consider alternative options for achieving shareholder value. The firm apparently approached Athenahealth last fall in regards to a take-private deal, and Bush's company “refused to engage.”
“Unfortunately, we are faced now with the stark reality that athenahealth as a public-company investment, despite all of its promise, has not worked for many years, is not working today and will not work in the future,” Elliott said.
Shares of Athenahealth have been an up-and-down ride over the past few years, with the stock struggling to generate upward momentum. The stock is down more than 35% from its all-time high achieved more than four years ago. Elliott's proposal could be worth up to $7 billion, including debt.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Click here for the 6 trades >>