GHX, one of the early industry marketplace consortia (2000 anyone?), announced today that it had been acquired by Thoma Bravo a PE Firm. GHX was originally a consortium of suppliers to the healthcare industry–sort of the opposite of a GPO. Over time GHX added hospital ownership, making it one of the few consortia to have buyers and suppliers under one roof. (That had to be hard to manage!)
Unfortunately, the press release did not disclose any financial details, but over the years I have been told GHX has been quite successful with its supply chain applications, particularly in the areas of implantables and other higher-end items used by hospitals.
GHX now joins the long list of marketplaces whose ownership has moved from a consortia model to more traditional corporate or PE-Backed ownership. Examples include:
- Transora (US1)
- GNX/WWRE (Agentrics then Neogrid)
- Inttra (PE Firm ownership)
- Quadrem (Ariba/SAP)
- Pantellos (Perfect)
- E2Open (Public)
- Covisint (Ariba and Compuware)
Off the top of my head, I can only think of a few more consortia that still exist with that ownership model:
- Elemica/Rubber Network (Chemicals)
- Avendra (Hospitality)
- Liaison (not sure about this one, forest products and healthcare)
- Exostar (Aerospace)
- Aeroxchange (Airlines)
- OFS Portal (Oil and Gas Drilling)
Perhaps alert readers will think of more examples, but it is almost the end of an era.
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