athenahealth Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a provider of online services to hospital and doctors, announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire Epocrates Inc. (NASDAQ: EPOC), a maker of mobile health applications, in a deal estimated at $293 million, as the Watertown-based company looks to expand its traction in electronic records and gain a leading iPhone application.
San Mateo, California-based Epocrates will receive $11.75 a share, which represents a premium of 22 percent over EPOC’s closing stock price on Friday.
With the help of this acquisition, ATHN, which until now processed insurance claims and patient claims, will be able to able to expand its software business, focused on maintaining records and prescribing drugs.
Besides, the acquisition will also bring EPOC app’s strong brand recognition. As of August 2012, EPOC app was used by 338,000 physicians to conscript summaries on drugs.
According to athenahealth’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Bush, no less than 86,000 physicians have downloaded an iPad app developed by Epocrates, launched just a month ago.
While speaking to Boston Herald, Bush said that “Despite all of our good work and awards and client engagement and client satisfaction scores, 70 percent of doctors in the states do not know who we are and what we do.”
“This is totally the opposite case with Epocrates, which has 90 percent awareness and favorability”, adding that [Epocrates] is “far more important bedside diagnostic tool than a stethoscope” according to Boston Herald.
Meanwhile, the CEO also said the Company intends to maintain the bran for the time being.
“We expect to be taking their lead on mobile app development. We need each other”, said Bush to Boston Herald.
Following the news, shares of both companies climbed on Monday. While shares of athenahealth gained 2.15 percent, shares of Epocrates skyrocketed 21.41 percent in regular trading.
Recent Comments