Software And Training Reviews

MultiPlan Inc. is merging with a special purpose acquisition company in an $11 billion deal that will take the health-care-services provider public.

The company, currently owned by private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman, will merge with Churchill Capital Corp. III, a SPAC run by former Citigroup Inc. banker Michael Klein that went public in a February initial public offering, the companies said late Sunday.

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The Wall Street Journal earlier Sunday had reported on the deal.

The transaction, the value of which includes debt, will infuse MultiPlan with up to $3.7 billion of new equity and convertible debt, including $700 million from existing investors and $2.6 billion from outsiders—among them sovereign-wealth funds, mutual funds and family offices, according to people familiar with the matter. The company plans to use the new money for purposes including paying down debt, purchasing a portion of the current owners’ stake and funding its balance sheet.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
CCX	CHURCHILL CAP II UNIT 1 COM CL A & 1 WT EXP	11.42	+0.27	+2.42%

It will continue to be run by existing management, including longtime Chief Executive Mark Tabak.

MultiPlan’s platform is used by insurance companies such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Cigna Corp. to find cost savings in health-care claims. MultiPlan estimates its algorithms find nearly $20 billion in medical cost savings annually. It takes a percentage of those savings as revenue, typically between 5 cents and 13 cents on the dollar.

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Such capabilities are in high demand as health-care costs soar, resulting in a string of deals in the sector. United last year agreed to buy private-equity-owned payments firm Equian, which touts an ability to reduce mistakes that cause overpayment.

Hellman & Friedman bought MultiPlan in 2016 for $7.5 billion from Starr Investment Holdings LLC. It is the latest in a long line of private-equity firms to own the company—and profit from it.

General Atlantic invested in the business in 2004. Carlyle Group Inc. then bought it for $1 billion in 2006, selling it for more than three times as much four years later to BC Partners and Silver Lake. Those two private-equity firms held it for four years before selling it for $4.4 billion to Starr in 2014, more than doubling their money. Starr nearly tripled its investment in the sale to Hellman & Friedman.

Hellman & Friedman and its co-investors will be rolling about three-quarters of their equity stake into the company, people close to the company said.

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MultiPlan has carried significant debt during the 17 years it has been under private-equity ownership, allowing its owners to pay themselves hefty dividends but limiting its ability to reinvest in the business. As a public company, it plans to pursue acquisitions and build out new business lines including out-of-network health-care claims, auto and property-casualty insurance and dental claims, the people said.

With offices in San Francisco, New York and London, Hellman & Friedman managed around $49 billion in assets at the end of 2019. The firm, which was founded in 1984, has a strategy of making a limited number of large-scale investments in growing companies in sectors including software and technology, financial services, health care, retail and consumer.

SPACs like Churchill Capital, which raised $1.1 billion in its IPO, are shell companies that go public to raise cash for deals. Churchill briefly considered buying food-delivery company Postmates Inc. before deciding against it. Postmates agreed last week to sell itself to Uber Technologies Inc. for about $2.6 billion.

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In May 2019, Mr. Klein’s first SPAC, Churchill Capital Corp., announced a merger with Clarivate Analytics PLC, a subscription-based analytics provider carved out of Thomson Reuters Corp. in 2016. He also has another SPAC, Churchill Capital Corp. II, that is pursuing a deal.

SPACs have enjoyed a resurgence lately as the IPO market rebounds, even while deal making in general has slowed. SPACs have been on pace for their biggest year ever, according to Dealogic. In April, 80% of all money raised for U.S. initial public offerings went to such “blank-check” firms, compared with an average of 9% over the past decade.

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Mr. Klein spent more than two decades at Citigroup, where he was chairman of its institutional-clients group.

—Corrie Driebusch contributed to this article.

Write to Cara Lombardo at cara.lombardo@wsj.com and Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com

PASADENA – Bar owners, employees and loyal customers gathered in Pasadena Sunday to hold a rally and demand the freedom to reopen their businesses.

“We want to open up. We need to pay our bills. Our employees need food and money to pay their bills,” said James Kopeck, the co-owner of Chuters Dance Hall and Saloon.

The dance hall recently hosted an event, defying Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders to shut down.

“They deserve to make money,” said longtime customer Chris Sorensen.

All bars in Texas were required to close on June 26 after a spike in coronavirus cases.

• Krispy Kreme is giving away free doughnuts on Friday, July 17.
• For every dozen doughnuts you buy, you can get a second dozen free to celebrate Krispy Kreme’s 83rd birthday.
• “After 83 years, we’re still hot … and fresh … and delicious,” Krispy Kreme’s chief marketing officer Dave Skena said in a statement.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Krispy Kreme is giving away free doughnuts this week.

On Friday, July 17, the doughnut chain will be giving away a dozen free Original Glazed doughnuts with the purchase of an original dozen doughnuts, to celebrate Krispy Kreme’s 83rd birthday.

“After 83 years, we’re still hot … and fresh … and delicious,” chief marketing officer Dave Skena said in a statement.

The deal is available for people ordering doughnuts via takeout and through the drive-thru. While Krispy Kreme has been emphasizing its delivery during the coronavirus pandemic, the free dozen doughnuts are not available for delivery.

Krispy Kreme also said it will extend its “Hot Light” hours, beginning its signalling of hot doughnuts earlier and ending it later in the day.

National French Fry Day is Monday, July 13. It’s swell to honor one of the top fast food side orders, but the day isn’t doing its work unless some of the best fast food french fries are part of the celebration. Checkers and Rally’s (ranked fifth on the Thrillist list) is going to part of the fun, and so is McDonald’s (ranked second).

McDonald’s has announced that you’re getting a totally free medium order of french fries to celebrate the day. You don’t have to buy anything at all to get the free fries. Though, you’re only getting one free order per person. Sorry to crush your plans of eating nothing but free fries all day. (Though, you could probably get pretty close if you restaurant-hopped and gave over your entire day to the enterprise.)

To get those salty, delicious fries, you’ll have to download the McDonald’s mobile app. Inside the app, you’ll be able to redeem the offer of free sliced potatoes through the Mobile Order and Pay function or by scanning a QR code at the drive-thru, counter, or kiosk at select locations. 

The Mobile Order and Pay function is worth knowing whether or not you’re taking advantage of this particular deal. It’s one way to protect workers and yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing contact. Of course, you can help further protect workers by wearing a mask if you’re going to get some food from any restaurant.

Celebrate the faux holiday with free fries for the side of your lunch or just allow this to be a day where the sides take center stage.

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* Asian stock markets : tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

* Asia -ex Japan share index near five-month top

* Investors brace for U.S. earnings season

* Investors upbeat even as coronavirus cases surge in U.S.

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY, July 13 (Reuters) – Asian shares got off to a firm start on Monday as investors wagered U.S. earnings season would see most companies beat forecasts given expectations had been lowered so far by coronavirus lockdowns.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.15%, having climbed sharply to a five-month peak last week on the back of surging Chinese stocks .

Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.3% and South Korea 0.9%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% even as some U.S. states reported record new cases of COVID-19, a divergence that shows no sign of stopping.

“Ongoing grim U.S. COVID-19 infection news continues to be summarily ignored in favour of ongoing optimism regarding the time-line for the discovery and rapid roll-out of an effective vaccine and/or more policy support for asset prices and the U.S. economy,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at NAB.

“JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo all report on Tuesday and there’s a view that the bar has been set pretty low for them to report the almost obligatory ‘better than expected’ results – the absence of forward guidance from many firms notwithstanding.”

Wednesday sees Goldman Sachs and Bank of NY report, while Thursday has Netflix and Morgan Stanley.

While bank shares rose sharply on Friday they have been badly lagging technology stocks, with analysts at Bank of America noting tech outperformance in the past six months was greatest since the 1999 tech bubble and the 2008 global financial crisis.

If the S&P 500 was just “tech, health care, Amazon, Google” the index would now be 4,173, they wrote in a note, way above the current level of 3,185. If made up of everything else, it would be 2,924.

“Central banks are crushing rate expectations, forcing risk-taking in credit markets,” they added.

Yields on U.S. 10-year notes came close to record lows last week at 0.569% and were last at 0.63%.

Super-low rates have in turn been a boon for non-yielding gold which hit a near nine-year high after five straight weeks of gains. The metal was last at $1,800 an ounce, just off a $1,817.17 top.

The hunt for yield has tended to benefit emerging market currencies and those leveraged to commodities such as the Australian dollar, while weighing on the U.S dollar.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was off at 96.585 on Monday and not far from the June trough of 95.714. The dollar was a fraction softer on the yen at 106.88, while the euro held at $1.1309.

Oil prices eased in early trade, although that followed a sharp rise on Friday when the International Energy Agency (IEA) bumped up its 2020 demand forecast.

Brent crude futures dipped 33 cents to $42.90 a barrel, while U.S. crude lost 34 cents to $40.21.