Roper acquires Sunquest

SARASOTA — Roper Industries Inc. has entered an agreement to purchase Sunquest Information Systems Inc. for nearly $1.42 billion in a cash transaction, including $25 million in cash tax benefits.

Sunquest, based in Tuscon, Ariz., is the leading company in diagnostic and laboratory software for health care providers. According to a news release, more than 1,700 hospitals worldwide use Sunquest's software.

Roper, a manufacturing firm specializing in imaging and software products, says in a release its acquisition of Sunquest will complement the company's medical and software products. It expects the acquisition to generate $140 million or more of EBITDA in 2013, excluding deferred revenue, a release explains.

“The business is the market leader in software solutions for the critically important health care provider laboratory market,” Brian Jellison, Roper chairman, president and CEO, says in the release. “We expect Sunquest to benefit in all economic environments from very favorable market forces — an aging population, expansion of anatomic pathology, and the need for reduce health care costs and improved quality of care.”

Sunquest is owned by a group of investors including Huntsman Gay Global Capital and Vista Equity Partners, which has owned the company since 2007.

Sarasota-based Roper is publicly traded, with shares rising in value in early Monday trading upon the announcement (symbol:ROP, recent price: $106.01). The company is the ninth-largest on the Gulf Coast with $2.79 billion in 2011 revenues.

The companies expect to complete the transaction within 30 days, barring regulatory approval.