Marin Ventures has launched another new company and it’s planning to take this one public.
Nashville-based First Digital Health Acquisition Corp. recently filed a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential $201 million initial public offering.
The company, which is offering to sell up to 20,125,000 shares at $10 per share, plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FDHA.”
First Digital is “blank check” company founded in March of last year with the purpose of initiating a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase or reorganization of open or more businesses, according to the filing. The company intends to purchase a “platform company” to build into a leader in health care technology or technology-enabled health care services.
First Digital is backed by Martin Ventures and Wheaton, Illinois-based First Trust Capital Partners, according to the filing.
The founder and chairman of First Digital is listed as Charlie Martin, who is also the founder of Martin Ventures. Jon Phillips, managing director of First Trust Capital Partners and board member at Nashville-based Wellvana, and Justin Dearborn, CEO of Salt Lake City-based PatientBond Inc. and former CEO of Tribune Publishing Company in Chicago, are the company’s co-CEOs.
The IPO is another sign that the health care industry, particularly the health tech sector, is booming following a rough start to the pandemic. Several local health tech startups have recorded record capital raises, including Monogram Health, which raised $160 million in June; IVZ Health, which raised $100 million; and Relatient Inc., which raised $100 million.
First Digital speaks to the attractiveness of the health care industry in the filing, noting that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projects U.S. health care expenditures will rise to $6.2 trillion through 2028, or 19.7% of GDP.
While First Digital has not selected any specific business to target for purchase — and the filing states the company may pursue an acquisition in any industry or sector — the company plans to use its experience in the health tech space to its advantage.
“[W]e intend to capitalize on our management team’s differentiated ability to source, acquire, and manage a business in the healthcare industry, specifically in the healthcare technology, healthcare technology-enabled services, or digital health subsectors. We believe these subsectors present significant opportunities tied to emerging themes including value-based care, population health, social determinants of health, consumer engagement and empowerment, care coordination, access enhancement and real-world evidence utilization in life sciences,” the filing states.
The IPO is another power move for Martin, who was inducted into the Nashville Entrepreneur Center Hall of Fame in 2019. Martin founded Vanguard Health Systems in 1997, after selling his previous health system, OrNda, to Tenet Healthcare for $1.7 billion. He grew Vanguard into a 28-hospital system, took it public in 2011 and sold it to Tenet for $4.3 billion in 2013, according to the Martin Ventures website.
In 2020, Martin Ventures-backed health care cost-management company Valify was purchased by hospital-giant HCA Healthcare Inc. and last year portfolio company Contessa Health was sold to Amedisys for $250 million.
