Healthcare data analytics company Craneware is buying 340B third-party administrator Sentry Data Systems, the latest in a series of 340B TPA acquisitions.
Abry Partners, the private equity firm that bought an approximately 89% stake in Sentry in May 2015, reportedly for $200 million, announced on Tuesday that Sentry was being sold to Craneware for $400 million. Sentry management, management-related entities, and individual shareholders held the remainder of the stake in Sentry after Abry’s investment six years ago. The sale to Craneware is subject to U.S. Federal Trade Commission approval.
“It’s been a privilege to work with Abry these past six years,” Sentry CEO Travis Leonardi said. “Sentry looks forward to continuing to innovate and grow with its new partnership with Craneware.” Sentry is a 340B Report sponsor.
Craneware CEO Keith Neilson, in a June 7 statement to the London Stock Exchange’s news service, said, “The acquisition of Sentry will provide immediate additional scale to our operations, expanding our coverage of U.S. hospitals, enhancing our pharmacy offering and cementing Craneware’s position as a leading provider of value cycle solutions to the U.S. healthcare market.” Craneware is based in Scotland.
“Sentry’s high levels of recurring revenues, customer retention rates, and strong financial metrics, speak to the quality of the business and the people that deliver their offering and we are excited by the scope of the opportunity ahead,” Neilson said.
Sentry’s apparently profitable sale just years after a major buy-in from investors is the latest example of change in 340B TPA ownership and finance.
Last August, Omnicell announced its purchase of Pharmaceutical Strategies Group’s 340B TPA suite of services for $225 million. MacroHelix is owned by drug distributor McKesson Corp.; Wellpartner by PBM/retail pharmacy/insurance conglomerate CVS Health; Verity Solutions by an entity of insurance company Cigna; and SunRx by the PBM MedImpact. Other 340B TPAs have received financial backing from private equity firms.
CORRECTION June 10, 2021, 1:00 p.m.—An earlier version of this article said Verity Solutions is owned by the PBM Express Scripts, which in turn is owned by insurance company Cigna. Verity has relayed to us that it is, in fact, owned directly by a different entity of Cigna, not Express Scripts.
