Minnesota losing public company in $366M deal as Agiliti’s biggest shareholder takes it private

Thomas H. Lee Partners owns 73% of Agiliti’s shares and will buy the rest.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 26, 2024 at 10:19PM
Agiliti CEO Tom Leonard outside the New York Stock Exchange when they completed their IPO.
Agiliti CEO Tom Leonard was in front of the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, when the company went public. (NYSE/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Agiliti Inc., after three years as a publicly traded company, will go private again as its largest shareholder buys the rest of the firm.

Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) already owns 73% of Agiliti’s shares. It has agreed to pay $10 a share for the rest, a 39% premium to the average price of Agiliti’s stock over the past 30 days.

The enterprise value of Eden Prairie-based Agiliti is about $2.5 billion, according to the news release announcing the deal. Enterprise value includes the market value of outstanding shares, which is about $1 billion for Agiliti prior to the deal announcement, plus the value of short-term and long-term debt as well as cash and cash equivalents.

To acquire the 36.6 million remaining shares it does not already own, THL will have to pay about $366 million.

Agiliti sells medical equipment and services to health care providers and governments, including helping to keep the nation’s stores of vital medical equipment up to date. This became critical during the COVID pandemic.

“Agiliti serves a critical role in sustaining our national health care infrastructure, and our dedicated team has led the way to our substantial growth and evolution over the last decade,” said Tom Leonard, CEO of Agiliti. “We are pleased to expand our five-year partnership with THL in a transaction that provides immediate value and liquidity to our shareholders, while lifting certain overhangs that had limited our performance in the public market since the time of our IPO.”

THL has approved the deal and because it is the majority shareholder of Agiliti, the deal does not require any other shareholder approvals. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.

Agiliti was expected to report its fourth quarter and year-end results next week, but because of the deal announcement it has canceled that event. In 2023, it has $1.1 billion in sales, ranking it 35th on the Star Tribune’s list of Minnesota public companies.

Agiliti went public for a second time in April 2021 at $14 a share and raised $390 million, including an overallotment. Its shares traded over that price much of the time since, but over the past 30 days prior to Monday the average share price of Agiliti has been $7.22 a share.

Shares of Agiliti closed Monday at $9.86 a share, up 29%.

about the writer

about the writer

Patrick Kennedy

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Business reporter Patrick Kennedy covers executive compensation and public companies. He has reported on the Minnesota business community for more than 25 years.

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