Global Paymentsthe publicly traded payments processor, is seeking a buyer for AdvancedMD, according to four banking and private equity sources.
Global Payments has hired an investment bank to advise it on the sale process, the sources confirmed to Fortune. GPN wants $3 billion for AdvancedMD, but is more likely to receive something closer to $1.5 billion, one banker said. Fortune.
“We decline to comment on market rumors or speculation,” a Global Payments spokesperson said in a statement. Fortune.
Founded in 2000, AdvancedMD provides medical billing software, including payments, to medical practices. The South Jordan, Utah-based company said it currently serves 40,000 practitioners in 13,000 practices as well as 850 medical billing companies. It employs 800 people.
AdvancedMD has bounced between private equity and strategic owners over the past 15 years. In 2008, Francisco Partners acquired AdvancedMD and I sold it three years later at ADP. Marlin Stock Partners bought AdvancedMD in 2015, only for sell it in 2018 to Global Payments, which paid $700 million in cash.
Global Payments provides technologies and services used by businesses in industries such as restaurants, retail, healthcare and education. Shares rebounded from a 52-week low of $95.12 in June, closing Thursday at $134.59.
Global Payments’ ownership of AdvancedMD didn’t make sense, one venture capital executive said, because the company really has to choose between “prioritizing software or prioritizing payments, not both.”
GPN faced a similar issue with Netspend, a provider of personal bank accounts and prepaid debit cards. Global Payments acquired Netspend in 2019 as part of its $21.5 billion purchase of Total Systems Services. (TSYS bought Netspend for about $1.4 billion in 2013.) Last year, Global Payments sold Netspend’s consumer business to its original founders, who partnered with Searchlight Capital Partners, Fortune reported.
Bloomberg reported in December that Global Payments was considering the possible acquisition of Shift4another payment company, than Global Payments denied. Reuters then reported in February that Fiserv and Amadeus IT made an offer to buy Shift4, but the process was shot after the bid was too low.