On IPO Day One, A CEO Tells the Story of the Company: Emdeon

By: Ray Pellecchia

File Under: Listed Companies

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Today, Emdeon Inc. will list its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol EM. I picked up from a colleague that its chief executive George I. Lazenby is scheduled to do several press interviews here in the span of about 90 minutes this morning, and I thought it might be neat to post all of the interviews as they become publicly available, to offer a quick look at how one CEO tells the story of his company on a milestone day.

Of course, as an advocate for my employer NYSE Euronext, I have another goal with this post, and that is to highlight the public visibility that our marketplace offers. I don't know of any other financial market that has the concentration of embedded financial media that NYSE does, as well as easy reach to others who work nearby and come in when the news merits. And it's the only market where you can tell your story to the financial markets while standing amid live trading in your stock. The fact that it's a living, breathing center of liquidity price discovery and market insight is a key reason why journalists choose to report from here. Companies value that one-stop, turnkey access to visibility, and it's a great benefit of listing with us, available not just on IPO Day One but any time the company wants to use the platform.

So please check this post throughout the morning and I'll update it with the latest coverage of Emdeon as it runs.

For those who aren't familiar with it, Emdeon describes itself as "a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle management solutions, connecting payers, providers and patients in the U.S. healthcare system. The company's product and service offerings integrate and automate key business and administrative functions of its payer and provider customers throughout the patient encounter, including pre-care patient eligibility and benefits verification, claims management and adjudication, payment distribution, payment posting and denial management and patient billing and payment collection. Through the use of the company's comprehensive suite of products and services, which are designed to easily integrate with existing technology infrastructures, its customers are able to improve efficiency, reduce costs, increase cash flow and more efficiently manage the complex revenue and payment cycle process."

One further bit of background: the Wall Street Journal yesterday ran a preview of the IPO, saying in part:

Emdeon, based in Nashville, Tenn., plans to raise as much as $332.5 million through its initial public offering. The stock, set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the symbol EM, has been attracting buzz for several weeks now.

"Companies can only come to market successfully in this environment if there are three ingredients in an IPO: a well-run market leader, operating in a hot sector, and prudently priced. This company is clearly a market leader in a fast-growing service business, and the stock seems to be fairly priced," says Marino Marin, a managing director at investment bank Gruppo Levey & Co.

If you'll forgive me a side plug, I see that today's Wall Street Journal reports that Starwood Capital Group also is expected to list its IPO -- the largest of the year -- on NYSE today. All of this supports what my colleague Scott Cutler has been saying about NYSE being the market of choice for IPOs.

Now, back to the main event: the Emdeon coverage will be posted below as it comes in.

UPDATE (10:18 a.m.): Here's the CNBC interview. Fast, excellent summary by Mr. Lazenby of the company's role in a key story of the day, health-care reform.

UPDATE (1:56 p.m.) Here's the Wall Street Journal online article; an expanded version of it my colleague pulled off Factiva says in part:

The company's chief executive said Wednesday that management didn't worry about whether the deal could have fetched a higher price later in the year if markets kept improving; they believed everything from Emdeon's financial results to the predictability of its revenue stream made its success likely in any kind of weather.

"We believed we would get a good valuation for our company even in this environment, so we weren't so concerned about timing it," said CEO George I. Lazenby IV.

UPDATE (2:04 p.m.): Here's a Reuters article that says in part:

Emdeon stands to gain from whatever reforms emerge from the Obama administration's health care reform, its chief executive said.

"No one knows how that reform will shake out, but there are consistent themes, such as more and better information exchange, that are all things that will benefit our company," Emdeon Chief Executive George Lazenby told Reuters in an interview.

My understanding is that two other interviews might not be posted until later today or tomorrow; will put up the links when we see them.

UPDATE (3:45 p.m.): Bloomberg is running on its subscription terminal a video interview with Mr. Lazenby; it's not posted on Bloomberg.com (at least not yet). For your reference, the description on the terminal says:

Lazenby Says Emdeon Would Benefit From Health-Care Plan: Video
2009-08-12 19:16:58.96 GMT

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- George Lazenby, chief executive
officer of Emdeon Corp., talks with Bloomberg's Suzanne
O'Halloran about the impact of the Obama administration's
proposed overhaul of the U.S. health-care system on the company.
Lazenby also discusses Emdeon's initial public offering,
the impact of the U.S. recession on the company and its
acquisition strategy. (Source: Bloomberg)

UPDATE (13 August 1:57 p.m.): There's an article on TheDeal.com but I don't have a subscription.

That's all the coverage we're anticipating for now. But not bad, eh?