LONDON â€" A group of investors led by an affiliate of C.V. Starr & Company is close to acquiring the health care cost-management company MultiPlan in a transaction valued at $4.4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal could be announced as early as Monday, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The transaction represents the next step in efforts by C.V. Starr of New York and its Starr Investment Holdings arm to expand their private equity investment footprint.
Maurice R. Greenberg has led the Starr companies, which also include the insurance unit Starr International Company, since he stepped down as chief executive of American International Group in 2005. The Starr companies focus on an investment time frame of up to 10 years, a longer period than used in most of the private equity industry.
The Swiss investment firm Partners Group is teaming up with the Starr companies on the MultiPlan deal. Partners Group had 30.3 billion euros, or about $41.5 billion, in assets under management in the first half of 2013.
The deal was reported by The Wall Street Journal late on Sunday.
MultiPlan was purchased by the private equity firms BC Partners and Silver Lake Partners in 2010. Founded in 1980, MultiPlan manages the claims process for insurers, corporate self-funded health plans and health maintenance organizations. The company processes about 40 million insurance claims annually.
According to one of the people with knowledge of the deal, the transaction is expected to double the value of the initial investments in MultiPlan by BC Partners, which is based in London, and Silver Lake, a California-based company that focuses on technology investments.
