Radiology and health tech vendor Change Healthcare announced Feb. 4 that it’s officially parting ways with its majority owner, in a move that has long been in the works.
The Tennessee-based firm recently submitted paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin disposition of McKesson’s ownership interest. According to the filing, McKesson will relinquish its three seats on Change’s board of directors, along with any ability to dictate operating or financial activities.
Change is the largest health-technology company in the Nashville region and went public in June 2019 under the ticker symbol CHNG. The company formerly went by the name Emdeon prior to acquiring Change Healthcare, a Brentwood-based cost-transparency company, for $135 million in 2014.
The firm then merged with the technology division of pharmaceutical and health IT giant McKesson, currently headquartered in Las Colinas, Texas, in 2017. Back in June at the time of the IPO, McKesson said it expected to “exit its investment in Change Healthcare in a tax-efficient manner.”
Under the deal, McKesson will offer its shareholders the chance to swap shares for a stake in Change, the Nashville Business Journal reported Feb. 5 . With almost 180 million shares involved, the transaction could total $2.8 billion, the publication noted.
Neil de Crescenzo will remain as CEO of Change Healthcare, which has about 870 employees, the report noted. The company provides a host of data and analytics solutions in radiology and other specialties.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.