Less than three years after debuting on the New York Stock Exchange in an initial public offering, Agiliti is leaving the public market.
The medical equipment management company has entered into a take-private deal with its majority shareholder, Thomas H. Lee Partners, or THL, according to a Monday announcement.
Agiliti’s board of directors has approved the transaction—based on the unanimous recommendation of a designated special committee within the board—as has THL. It’s expected to close sometime within the first half of this year.
Under the terms of the deal, the private equity firm will pay out $10 for each share of Agiliti’s stock not already owned by THL or “certain management shareholders.” According to the release, that represents a premium of about 40% over Agiliti’s average trading price in recent months; throughout the last week, for example, it was hovering around $7.50 per share.
“Agiliti serves a critical role in sustaining our national healthcare infrastructure, and our dedicated team has led the way to our substantial growth and evolution over the last decade,” CEO Tom Leonard said in the announcement.
“We are pleased to expand our five-year partnership with THL in a transaction that provides immediate value and liquidity to our shareholders while lifting certain overhangs that had limited our performance in the public market since the time of our IPO,” Leonard said.
Once the deal has closed, Agiliti will leave the NYSE. Though the company said it still plans to file its full-year 2023 financial report in the coming weeks, it has canceled the usual accompanying conference call to discuss the results, which had previously been scheduled for March 5.
Altogether, the buyout values Agiliti at $2.5 billion—a slight dip from the $2.6 billion valuation it was estimated to hold at the time of its IPO.
In that April 2021 debut, the company hit the NYSE as “AGTI,” offering more than 26.3 million shares at $14 apiece to start, plus an overallotment of another 3.9 million shares, and raking in nearly $400 million in the process.
The IPO came as Agiliti’s billing as a provider of medical equipment and services became especially crucial during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. For all of 2021, the company took in more than $1 billion in revenues, representing a year-over-year increase of 34%. It topped those earnings in 2022, with 8% growth driving its revenues to $1.12 billion, and, as of its third-quarter 2023 results, it was expecting to outdo itself once more, with full-year revenues forecasted to land between $1.16 billion and $1.19 billion.
Meanwhile, during that time, the company underwent some back-and-forth in the C-suite: Leonard, who took on the CEO role in 2015, stepped down from the post in March 2023 to retire—only to return to the role in October.