Big data firms are sweet targets for healthcare investors. Just last February, Veritas Capital sold Truven Health Analytics to IBM Watson Health (NYSE: IBM) for $2.6 billion. Now it’s putting some of that ROI into another big data firm, Verisk Health, the healthcare service business Verisk Analytics Inc. Verisk Health provides data services, analytics and advanced technologies to help users make smarter business decisions and reduce risk. The $820 million purchase price consists of $720 million in cash and a $100 million long-term subordinated promissory note.
With Truven Health Analytics, Veritas Capital repositioned the company from a data provider with limited analytics offerings to a leading provider of cloud-based technology solutions. At the time of its sale to IBM, Truven had more than 8,500 clients, including federal and state government agencies, employers, health plans, hospitals and life sciences companies.
No immediate plans to reposition Verisk Health came with the announcement, just that the company will double down on its proprietary data analytics in its key vertical markets. That’s what they all say, in the beginning.
