KKR to buy WebMD for $2.8B

Global private equity firm KKR is buying WebMD for $2.8 billion, the entities announced Monday. The purchase also brings WebMD-owned companies into KKR’s hands, including the popular clinician site Medscape.com and the pharmacy resource site RxList.com.

In a separate announcement Monday, KKR said it also will be acquiring a controlling stake in Nature’s Bounty, a company best known for its over-the-counter vitamin and wellness products.

WebMD sales rumors have been swirling since February, after years of dipping stock prices. KKR will take WebMD off the NASDAQ stock exchange and make it a private company, adding it to Internet Brands, KKR’s growing portfolio of online health resources in medical, dental and behavioral health.

An estimated 75 million people use the WebMD site every month.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.