Sharecare, an Atlanta-based digital health management platform, is going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, according to a Feb. 12 announcement.
After merging with Falcon Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FCAC), Sharecare will become Sharecare Inc. and be listed under the ticket symbol SHCR.
The deal is set to close in the second quarter and would put the enterprise value of the combined company at $3.9 billion. Sharecare will have approximately $400 million in its balance sheet after the transaction for growth initiatives, such as a sales force expansion, new digital offerings, and mergers and acquisitions.
Founded in 2010, Sharecare is the brainchild of Jeff Arnold, also the founder of WebMD, and TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. The company aims to unify and manage people's health in one place.
Arnold, CEO of Sharecare, said the deal positions the company to “transform the way people access, providers deliver and employers and health plans administer high-quality, cost-efficient health care.”
Last month, Sharecare bought Silicon Valley-based startup doc.ai in order to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities and announced a strategic partnership with health insurance company Anthem.
“Anthem and Sharecare are focused on delivering proactive, predictive and personalized health experiences for everyone,” Anthem Chief Digital Officer Rajeev Ronanki said in the announcement.
The purpose of the AI expansion is to improve consumer engagement and affordability of health care, Ronanki said. Anthem provided a direct investment into Sharecare as part of the SPAC deal.
Falcon Capital provided $345 million, while investors Koch Strategic Platforms, Baron Capital Group, Eldridge, Woodline Partners LP and Digital Alpha, which is a strategic partner of Sharecare, committed $425 million.
The number of SPAC, or “blank check,” companies has continued to rise in 2021 and has become an increasingly popular alternative for companies to go public rather than the traditional IPO process.
