Holt exits New Mountain to create $30 billion health‑tech venture

By Sabrina Valle

NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Matt Holt, former managing director and president of private equity at New Mountain Capital, has left the firm and is in talks to lead a deal valued at more than $30 billion to combine five of its health‑tech portfolio companies, people familiar with the matter said.

Holt proposed the plan to New Mountain and is amicably working with the firm on a structure that would consolidate the five health‑tech assets into a new operating company called Thoreau, one person said. New Mountain would retain a major equity stake by rolling nearly $2 billion into the venture while booking close to $14 billion for its limited partners if the deal proceeds, the sources said.

Holt plans to focus on health‑care technology and on employing artificial intelligence to lower medical costs, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.

For this effort, Holt is targeting New Mountain assets Datavant, Swoop, Machinify, Smarter Technologies, and Office Ally, the sources said. Holt did not respond to a request for comment.

In a confidential letter to investors seen by Reuters, New Mountain said the potential sale — which remains subject to closing conditions and could still fall apart — would deliver $12 billion in cash and roughly $2 billion in equity in the buyer, plus additional warrants. The price would exceed recent valuations and generate roughly $8.5 billion in gross gains for certain New Mountain funds, the letter said.

"We believe there is strong logic to putting all five companies together under one holding company umbrella, to enable the creation of a flexible and strong new competitor in the AI-enabled health tech space," New Mountain's letter said.

One source said Holt has been raising capital in the Middle East for the initiative while a second source said the venture is backed by alternative asset manager ICG SE.

New Mountain did not reply to a request for comment sent to its headquarters, and London-based ICG did not immediately reply.

Bloomberg first reported the news.