Private equity firms M/C Venture Partners (M/C) and Banc of America Capital Investors (BACI) today announced that they have partnered to jointly acquire AccentHealth, the leading digital out-of-home media company providing patient health education in physician offices nationwide, from Ascent Media Corp., a subsidiary of Discovery Holding Company.
Since 1995, AccentHealth has been educating patients with award-winning health-related television programming at the point-of-care. According to Nielsen Media Research, almost 150 million patients watch the programming each year in waiting rooms of more than 35,000 physicians. AccentHealth’s award-winning content is produced by CNN and co-hosted by CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Morning Express anchor Robin Meade. AccentHealth also offers its clients, primarily pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods companies, integrated marketing opportunities such as wall-mounted health education displays to reach targeted consumers with multiple touch points at the point of care.
“This transaction will allow us to quickly complete our upgrade to digital delivery and expand our leadership presence at the point-of-care,” said Richard Ruth, CEO of AccentHealth. “We are especially pleased to have attracted the interest of M/C Venture Partners and Banc of America Capital Investors as they provide access to expertise and resources, which will help us enhance our leadership position in the health-focused out-of-home media segment.”
M/C Venture Partners and Banc of America Capital Investors are private equity investors with extensive experience in the media and entertainment sectors.
“Digital out-of-home advertising is a rapidly-growing media sector,” said John Watkins, managing general partner, M/C Venture Partners. “With consumers spending more time than ever out of their homes and traditional advertising channels in decline, we believe that the industry is at an inflection point. AccentHealth is well-positioned to capture the growth opportunity within the health-related advertising segment.”
“AccentHealth has spent 13 years building its dominant position at the point-of-care, an environment that has been notoriously difficult to break into,” said Craig Elson, partner, Banc of America Capital Investors. “We want to leverage that success to create a leading out-of-home-media company in the consumer health sector.”
About AccentHealth
AccentHealth is America’s #1 Integrated Health Media Company, educating patients with award winning health TV programming in 12,000 physician waiting rooms nationwide. AccentHealth’s trusted TV programming, produced by CNN and co-hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Robin Meade, reaches over 140 million Nielsen-audited viewers each year. Content is customized by physician specialty and features segments profiling common diseases, parenting topics, nutrition, fitness, and general preventative health and wellness information. AccentHealth’s wall-mounted educational print displays give advertisers the ability to reach patients with multiple touch-points at the point-of-care. With its recent upgrade to digital technology, AccentHealth offers physician offices an invaluable tool to communicate important practice-specific information and services to their patients. Visit www.accenthealth.com.
About M/C Venture Partners
M/C is a private equity firm that has been investing in the media and communications industry for over two decades. Since 1982, its partners have invested over $1.8 billion in equity in over 80 businesses across many different industry segments, including radio, television, cable, film, publishing, and telecommunications services. Current and past portfolio companies include Brooks Fiber, ICG Communications, Legendary Pictures, Lightower (formerly National Grid Wireless), MetroPCS, NuVox, and Zayo Broadband. The firm has strong institutional backing from leading pension funds and endowments as well as a long track record of success. M/C Venture Partners has offices in Boston and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.mcventurepartners.com.
About Banc of America Capital Investors
Banc of America Capital Investors (BACI) is the private equity investment group that manages capital on behalf of Bank of America. The BACI team has a fifteen-year track record of successfully providing junior capital for growth financings, buyouts, acquisitions, and recapitalizations. Since its founding in 1993, BACI has invested $3.0 billion in more than 130 transactions and is currently investing its sixth fund, totaling $1.5 billion, on behalf of Bank of America, its sole limited partner. For more information on BACI, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/baci.
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