55K Digital OOH Venues Now Under ContextMedia’s Control Via AccentHealth Cash Buy

ContextMedia has acquired AccentHealth in a deal that makes theChicago-based firm by a big margin the largest player in health care digital OOH ad networks, with 55,000 sites.

It was an all-cash deal – no numbers disclosed.

For many, many years, AccentHealth was the biggest player in ad networks in places like clinics and hospitals, running content and ads in waiting rooms and beyond. ContextMedia was a relatively small, niche player, focused on condition-specific clinics like diabetes and rheumatology. But while Accent has sold more generalized advertising, the secret sauce at Context is how they were able to successfully focus ad sales on a narrow set of advertisers – particularly the small numbers of drug manufacturers who definitely wanted their information in front of people with specific conditions, and definitely didn’t want competitors on those same screens.

A pretty small bunch 10 years on launch, the company is scores of young staff and has won awards for company culture and workplace.

Says the press release:

Through this acquisition, ContextMedia becomes the largest healthcare decision platform at the point of care in the United States, with a rapidly growing reach across clinics, hospitals and health systems. In 2016, ContextMedia has been adding nearly one percent of all practices in the country each month and continues to grow rapidly in pursuit of ubiquitous presence of its healthcare technologies into every consultation room in the world. The company believes it will have a presence in seventy percent of all practices in the U.S. by 2020.

“ContextMedia has a vision to embed actionable information and intelligence into every critical healthcare decision,” said Rishi Shah, ContextMedia Chief Executive Officer and Founder. “Our healthcare decision technologies drive better health outcomes by empowering collaboration between consumers and their healthcare providers, transforming the communication of treatments and conditions, offering assessment technology for early detection and simplifying complex health information.”

17.5 percent of the United States GDP is currently spent on healthcare, and eighty percent of these costs are attributable to chronic condition treatments according to the CDC.  With the measurable impact of ContextMedia’s technology in improving comprehension, conversion and compliance of chronic disease treatments and lifestyle choices, the company has the opportunity to create unprecedented positive economic and social outcomes. In one recent study conducted by the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services, a medical group utilizing the ContextMedia decision platform saw up to 10 percent incremental cost savings per Medicare patient after incorporating ContextMedia’s technologies.

With a portfolio of interactive technologies developed by ContextMedia such as large format tablets that offer physicians 3D anatomical and condition models as well as video-based patient engagement and assessment tools, the company continues to innovate and expand its portfolio. ContextMedia will invest in bringing its technologies into AccentHealth’s network of practices to continue transforming the way healthcare providers and patients make healthcare decisions together. With the acquisition of AccentHealth, ContextMedia will reach 55,000 healthcare locations, a scale that is unmatched in the industry.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with ContextMedia,” commented Dan Stone, CEO of AccentHealth. “This deal will accelerate growth and innovation at the point of care to benefit the patients we serve. ContextMedia is respected in the industry for technology innovation at scale and we are deeply aligned on the mission to educate and empower people to live healthier lives.”

“This acquisition brings us closer to our vision of achieving ubiquity,” said Shah. “The expanded presence of our platform will accelerate our ability to drive positive health outcomes at scale.”

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year subject to customary closing conditions. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to ContextMedia. JPMorgan Chase Bank, Goldman Sachs and Citizens First Bank will provide financing. Moelis & Company acted as exclusive financial advisor and Alston & Bird LLP acted as legal advisor to AccentHealth.

I don’t really know president and co-founder Shradha Agarwal, but know Rishi pretty well. Brilliant young guy, and very passionate about the company and purpose. They dropped out of Northwestern to start this, and things appear to have worked out pretty damn well. I’ve always cited Context as one of the few companies in Digital OOH that were doing it the right way, and for the right reasons, and thriving.

Very big deal.

I’m not sure what this means for the AccentHealth networks, which has been around since 1995. Their content is now custom and re-purposed CNN Health stuff, and who knows if that stays that way. The company was owned by private equity people, and this is, presumably, the kind of liquidity event they like to get to.