Aya Healthcare, a talent software and staffing company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire tech-enabled healthcare staffing company Cross Country Healthcare for $18.61 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at around $615 million.

Calif.-based Aya Healthcare offers a healthcare-focused digital staffing platform that includes travel nursing and allied health, per diem staff, permanent staff hiring, locum tenens, non-clinical professionals and interim leadership.

Cross Country is a publicly traded company that offers healthcare staffing services. Following the merger, the company will go private and operate as a separate brand under Aya. 

The combined companies will allow Cross Country to have a presence in non-clinical settings and expand to all 50 states.  

The $615 million transaction represents a 67% premium to Cross Country's closing price on the stock market on Dec. 3, and a 68% volume-weighted average trading price for the 30-day trading period that ended on Dec. 3.     

"Aya shares our mission of connecting people and jobs through intuitive technologies and innovative solutions that enable healthcare professionals and organizations to achieve their goals, ensuring clinical excellence and exceptional patient care come first," John A. Martins, president and CEO of Cross Country, said in a statement. 

"This compelling all-cash transaction will deliver significant and immediate value to our stockholders. Importantly, it will also enhance and expand services and solutions for our clients, provide a wider array of opportunities and efficiencies for our healthcare clinicians and create new opportunities for our employees as part of an industry leader with a complementary footprint and offering."

Martins formerly worked as senior VP of operations strategy at Aya Healthcare from Nov. 2017 to Jan. 2021 and joined Cross Country's team in 2021 as group president of nurse allied. He became CEO of Cross Country in April 2022, and following the merger, will continue as president and CEO of the company. 

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025.   

THE LARGER TREND

According to a report released by Staffing Industry Analysts, Aya Healthcare ranked as the largest healthcare staffing firm in the U.S. this year.  

Aya has acquired several companies over the last couple of years, including Polaris AI, a machine learning platform that predicts the need for future patient volume and staffing levels in clinical settings, and data company Winnow AI, which provides AI-driven insights to physicians to bolster an organization's recruitment and retention strategies.

The company also expanded into the U.K. with its acquisition of ID Medical, a workforce solutions provider in the United Kingdom in January of this year. 

A survey done earlier this year by AMN Healthcare revealed that 91% of the 1,155 nurses surveyed nationwide said they believe the nursing shortage is worsening and that burnout, poor working conditions and inadequate pay are the primary causes.

In July, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a pair of bills aimed at curbing the nursing shortage by making visas available to foreign nurses working in areas where the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has determined there is a nursing workforce shortage.

Other companies working to curb the healthcare workforce shortage include Va.-based ShiftMed, which connects nurses with available shifts at healthcare facilities; temporary staffing marketplace Nomad Health; and Prolucent Health, which offers a healthcare jobs marketplace and recruiting services.