Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses, announced that it has completed the acquisition of healthcare data and analytics assets that were part of IBM’s Watson Health business, previously announced in January.
Under the ownership of Francisco Partners, the new standalone company will be called Merative and will be headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Merative brings together market-leading offerings that deliver value across the global healthcare ecosystem, serving clients in life sciences, provider, imaging, health plan, employer, and government health and human services sectors.
Seasoned healthcare CEO Gerry McCarthy has been tapped to lead the new organization. McCarthy has been in healthcare information technology for 30 years, most recently serving as CEO of eSolutions, a Francisco Partners portfolio company, which exited to Waystar in October 2020. Prior to eSolutions, Gerry was the President of TransUnion Healthcare and an executive at McKesson.
“Merative has market leading products, top clients and talented leadership,” said McCarthy. “With the commitment, support and deep experience of Francisco Partners, we will invest heavily in expanding the reach of these products as we continue to work with clients to improve healthcare delivery, decision making and performance.”
Paul Roma, General Manager of the Watson Health business, will be transitioning to Senior Advisor to Francisco Partners. McCarthy said, “Paul has been instrumental in driving crucial transformation of the business. His relentless focus on customers has laid a solid foundation to build on, and we thank him for his leadership.”
Merative’s products will be organized into six product families, including Health Insights; MarketScan; Clinical Development; Social Program Management and Phytel; Micromedex, and Merge Imaging solutions. Francisco Partners' investment will provide Merative with significant resources and opportunities for new investment, acquisitions, partnerships, and growth.
“Francisco Partners is excited about the opportunity to partner with the team and employees at Merative to help them achieve their mission, bringing technology and expertise to clients across healthcare through industry-leading data and analytics solutions,” said Ezra Perlman and Justin Chen of Francisco Partners. “We appreciate IBM’s work in developing this business, and our ownership will help Merative drive crucial focus in executing on organic and inorganic growth strategies.”
True Wind Capital and Sixth Street are investing in Merative. True Wind Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on investing in leading technology companies, and the team has a long-standing track record of partnering with healthcare businesses. Sixth Street is a global investment firm that uses its long-term flexible capital, data-enabled capabilities, and One Team culture to develop themes and offer solutions to companies across all stages of growth.
