EMIS set to be bought by US private equity firm in deal worth over £1bn

The largest supplier of GP IT systems in England could be bought by a US private equity firm in deal worth more than £1bn. 

TPG is set to buy Optum UK, the company that owns the EMIS electronic patient record (EPR) software, for between £1.2bn and £1.4bn, according to Sky News.

TPG could seek to combine Optum UK with Nextech, a US-based provider of electronic medical record software to doctors’ practices, according to the report. 

Optum UK is itself a subsidiary of US health insurance company UnitedHealth, which bought EMIS for £1.2bn in October 2023. If the TPG takeover goes through, it would be the second time ownership of the software has changed hands in less than three years. 

TPG ‘has struck the outline of a deal’ with UnitedHealth, though it has not been finalised, the report said. 

The firm invests in healthcare technology focused on ‘automation, data and analytics’, and ‘interoperability to improve care and patient choice in their own health’, according to its website.  

It holds $286bn in assets and has a history of investing in US-based and global healthcare technology companies.

EMIS is one of two main providers of clinical systems in primary care in England alongside TPP SystmOne. It is used by more than 4,000 GP practices – more than three-fifths of all practices. 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved the 2023 merger despite receiving ‘a large number of concerns’ about its impact in the first phase of its merger assessment, including from NHS Digital.   

Last June, NHS England approved the Medicus Health GP IT system, describing it as first new entrant to the GP IT market for 25 years and part of reforms to increase competition and innovation.  

And last month, EMIS challenged a coroner’s report that warned a feature of its software posed a potential patient safety risk.  

Pulse has contacted Optum for comment. TPG declined to provide a comment.