Kaufman Hall and Vizient Announce Investment and Strategic Collaboration

CHICAGO/IRVING, Texas – Nov. 3, 2021 – Kaufman, Hall & Associates, LLC (“Kaufman Hall”), a strategic advisor for healthcare systems and providers, and Vizient, Inc. (“Vizient”), the nation’s leading healthcare performance improvement company, announced that Vizient will make a strategic, minority investment in Kaufman Hall. Funds affiliated with Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC (“MDP”) will continue to own a majority position in Kaufman Hall.

“We are excited to receive this strategic investment from Vizient, as it opens the door for us to collaborate with Vizient and its members to address our clients’ most important strategic, financial, and operational needs,” said Kenneth Kaufman, founder and chair of Kaufman Hall. “Vizient’s deep industry expertise and complementary capabilities create an opportunity for Kaufman Hall to strengthen our offering in strategic planning, financial planning, and performance improvement. With the continued partnership of MDP and with the investment by Vizient, Kaufman Hall will be even better positioned to deliver industry-leading insights and unlock value across the healthcare continuum.”

Kaufman Hall and Vizient will each remain independent organizations with distinct operations, offerings, clients, and management teams. This investment will deepen and expand the two companies’ ability to support health systems with the financial, operational, and strategic insight they need to better serve their communities through access to high quality, affordable healthcare. Key areas of collaboration between Kaufman Hall and Vizient will include enterprise and service-line growth strategy, financial performance improvement, access to capital, strategic partnerships, spend management, and clinical quality.

“Vizient’s investment and collaboration with Kaufman Hall will positively impact the financial, clinical, and operational performance of our members,” said Byron Jobe, president and CEO at Vizient. “Kaufman Hall’s unparalleled financial performance offerings and advisory services joined with Vizient’s data and analytics capabilities, and clinical and operational performance expertise will provide solutions to some of healthcare’s most difficult problems. This investment and our future collaboration serve our mission to connect healthcare organizations and providers with the knowledge, solutions, and expertise that enable them to improve performance.”

Vizient’s investment will enhance Kaufman Hall’s proven ability to help its clients improve financial performance, make effective strategic decisions, access capital, create strategic partnerships, and achieve transformative outcomes.

“We initially invested in Kaufman Hall in 2014 and have enjoyed helping the company grow into the market-leading enterprise it is today,” said Jason Shideler, managing director on the MDP Health Care team. “Vizient’s investment is a testament to Kaufman Hall’s success and the value Vizient sees in Kaufman Hall’s long-term growth potential. We are pleased to welcome Vizient as an investment partner and look forward to working together as we support Kaufman Hall in the continued execution of its client-centric growth strategy.”

The investment is expected to close this quarter, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Jefferies LLC and Barclays are acting as financial advisors to Kaufman Hall. BMO Capital Markets is acting as financial advisor to Vizient.

MDP’s capital markets group has arranged for committed financing from a group of private lenders to support the transaction.

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About Kaufman Hall

Kaufman Hall provides management consulting solutions to help society’s foundational institutions realize sustained success amid changing market conditions. Since 1985, Kaufman Hall has been a trusted advisor to boards and executive management teams, helping them incorporate proven methods, rigorous analytics, and industry-leading solutions into their strategic planning and financial management processes, with a focus on achieving their most challenging goals.

Kaufman Hall services use a rigorous, disciplined, and structured approach that is based on the principles of corporate finance. The breadth and integration of Kaufman Hall advisory services are unparalleled, encompassing strategy; financial and capital planning; performance improvement; treasury and capital markets management; and mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and joint ventures.

About Vizient

Vizient, Inc. provides solutions and services that improve the delivery of high-value care by aligning cost, quality, and market performance for more than 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, which includes 97% of the nation’s academic medical centers, and more than 20% of ambulatory care providers. Vizient provides expertise, analytics, and advisory services, as well as a contract portfolio that represents more than $110 billion in annual purchasing volume, to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. In 2021, Vizient acquired Intalere, which expanded its footprint with ambulatory and rural acute care providers. Vizient has earned a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute every year since its inception. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.

About Madison Dearborn Partners

Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC (“MDP”) is a leading private equity investment firm based in Chicago. Since MDP’s formation in 1992, the firm has raised aggregate capital of over $28 billion and has completed over 150 investments. MDP invests across five dedicated industry verticals, including business and government software and services; basic industries; financial and transaction services; health care; and telecom, media, and technology services. For more information, please visit www.mdcp.com.

Press Contacts

For Kaufman Hall:

Tyler Williams

McCabe Message Partners

(434) 329-0940 / TWilliams@MessagePartnersPR.com

For Vizient:

Donna Ledbetter

Vizient, Inc.

(972) 830-6321 / donna.ledbetter@vizientinc.com 

For Madison Dearborn Partners:

Deirdre Walsh / Hannah Gould

Abernathy MacGregor

212-371-5999 / abmacmdcp@abmac.com