athenahealth to buy Epocrates for $293M

athenahealth, a developer of cloud-based EHR, practice management and care coordination services, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Epocrates, a mobile health firm that develops point-of-care medical applications. The board of directors of both athenahealth and Epocrates has agreed to a price of $11.75 per share, in cash, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $293 million.

Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth said the Epocrates acquisition will enable the company to offer better information access for health organizations, advanced mobile workflows and improve awareness and growth across the physician market.

The purchase price represents a 22 percent premium over the closing price per share of Epocrates on NASDAQ on Jan. 4. This is an all-cash offer for all outstanding shares of Epocrates’ common stock, and athenahealth intends to finance this acquisition using available cash and funds available from its existing credit facility. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of Epocrates shareholders and other customary closing conditions and is currently expected to occur early in the second quarter of 2013.