Despite various reforms, health care still represents a growing part of the U.S. economy -- consuming about 16% or $2.1 trillion of GDP. In fact, the growth rate is expected to be about 6.7% per year until 2017 (amounting to $4.3 trillion or 20% of GDP).

A big component of these expenditures is administration (representing about $360 billion or so). And, this is what Emdeon is focused on. The company has recently filed to go public.

Basically, Emdeon provides revenue and payment cycle management solutions. This involves connecting payers, providers and patients. Some of the capabilities include pre-care patient eligibility and benefits verification, claims management and adjudication, payment distribution, payment posting and denial management, and patient billing and payment collection.

All in all, Emdeon has built a solid platform. Last year, revenues came to $808.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $182.8 million (90% to 95% of revenues are recurring in nature). The company's system processed 3.7 billion transactions last year.

Emdeon is backed by two major private equity firms: General Atlantic and Hellman & Friedman LLC. And the lead underwriter is Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).

You can locate the prospectus at the SEC website.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

In early January, EGL Inc. (NASDAQ:EAGL) announced it was going private in a $1.65 billion transaction. The company is a major air shipper, focused on heavy cargo.

The company's founder and CEO, James Crane, was going to roll-in his 18% equity stake and even invest more in the buyout transaction. All in all, it was a good sign.

Well, this week, the private equity investor in the deal, General Atlantic LLC, bailed out. The reason? The firm was disappointed with EGL's fourth-quarter numbers.

On the news, the stock price plunged 18%.

But Crane is not giving up. He is searching for other backers.

No doubt, there is a large number of private equity firms looking for deals. However, they will certainly be skeptical. After all, it's not often something like this happens.

As a result, however, trying to get a purchase price back at $36 may be difficult.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Today, the NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) continued to feed its voracious appetite for deals. The latest: A $115 million investment in the National Stock Exchange (which is the largest in India). According to the Wall Street Journal, (subscription required) this represents about a 5% equity stake.

Not long ago, the NYSE's CEO, John Thain, indicated that he was interested in Asia. So, expect more deals to come.

By the way, there were other investors, including General Atlantic (which is a private equity firm and a major shareholder in the NYSE), SoftBank and Goldman Sachs (where Thain was formerly employed.).

No doubt, these investors would like to buy much more. But India has very strict regulations on foreign ownership.
Yes, the National Exchange has been growing significantly, with listings such as Wipro, Infosys and Tata Motors.

Thus, the infusion of capital should help scale the operations, as well as bring expertise. And, in the process, probably be very lucrative for General Atlantic, SoftBank and Goldman Sachs.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Nice start to the New Year for shareholders of EGL Inc. (NASDAQ:EAGL). The stock price surged 27% to $38.10.

The company, which is a freight forwarder, has announced it is going private. The buyers include the company's CEO, James R. Crane (who owns about 18%), as well as General Atlantic, which is a private equity firm.

The second half of 2006 was particularly rough for EGL. The company posted weak revenues and the stock price got crushed.

Yes, it looks like Crane, who is also the founder of the company, senses a value play. What's more, the company generates substantial free cash flows -- which always makes things easier when doing a buyout deal.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.