HedgeCo.Net — Francisco Partners has completed its acquisition of Weave Communications, the Lehi, Utah-based patient engagement and payments software company, in an all-cash take-private valued at about $650 million. Weave stockholders receive $7.40 a share, a premium of about 34% to the company’s unaffected closing price on August 17, the last full trading day before the deal was announced.
With the merger complete, Weave’s shares have stopped trading and are no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Weave became a wholly owned subsidiary of Willow Parent, an affiliate of Francisco Partners, according to the company’s closing filing, which put the aggregate merger consideration payable to stockholders at about $597 million. The company will keep its name and its Lehi headquarters.
Weave sells software that independent healthcare practices use to handle patient calls and texts, scheduling, insurance verification and payments, and it says more than 40,000 practice locations use its platform. Chief executive Brett White said private ownership would let the company invest more in its AI tools and its payments offering. Francisco Partners co-president Ezra Perlman said Weave sits at the center of how tens of thousands of practices communicate with patients and collect revenue.
The deal closed about two months after signing, inside the fourth-quarter timetable set when it was announced. Jefferies was exclusive financial adviser to Weave and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe was its legal counsel; Kirkland & Ellis advised Francisco Partners. Francisco Partners, which focuses on technology and tech-enabled businesses, says it has raised more than $75 billion and invested in more than 500 technology companies.
The transaction fits a steady pattern of sponsors buying small-cap vertical software companies whose public valuations have lagged. For private equity, the bet is that payments and AI-driven workflow tools can raise revenue per customer faster away from quarterly reporting. For public investors, the 34% premium is another reminder that sub-scale software names can be cheaper to own privately than the market implies.