Private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice has acquired a majority stake in Seattle-based startup Vera Whole Health, the companies announced today. The deal values Vera at $400 million.
Vera partners with employers to deliver “advanced primary health” through an integrated team of primary care physicians, nurses, and health coaches though clinics that are often in close proximity to workspaces.
The company employs an increasingly popular healthcare model: it charges a per-month, per-person membership fee. The approach simplifies billing and changes incentives in the medical system, with its fee-for-service approach and fragmented communication between specialists and primary care providers.
The partnership will add to CD&R’s portfolio of healthcare companies, which includes two companies similarly focused on primary care: agilon health and Millennium Physician Group.
Vera has expanded steadily since its founding in 2008, and now has a network of healthcare centers in ten states. Its customers include Seattle Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to the deal, Vera had raised a total of $76 million.
“We believe Vera is at the forefront of a fundamental shift in the way that the healthcare experience can be curated for employees through an empowered primary care model,” said CD&R Partner Ravi Sachdev in a statement announcing the deal.
On average, employers under contract with Vera have seen a 10%-to-25% reduction in total healthcare costs and high patient satisfaction rates of 4.7 out of 5, according to a press release.
Vera is “fundamentally transforming the way that healthcare is paid for and delivered, so folks’ outcomes improve and they save more money,” said Vera CEO and president Ryan Schmid, in a previous interview with GeekWire.
Schmid co-founded Vera along with Patricia Diaz-Kismarton, Joel de Jong and Tom Norwood. Vera currently has 453 employees.
Ron Williams, operating advisor to CD&R funds, has assumed the role of chairman of Vera. Williams is the former chairman and CEO of Aetna and current chairman of agilon health. Additionally, CD&R Partner and founder of agilon health, Ravi Sachdev, has joined Vera’s board.
