Cerner to Acquire AbleVets Further Expanding Strategic and Technical Expertise in U.S. Federal Health Market
KANSAS CITY – October 18, 2019 – Cerner Corporation announced today a definitive agreement to acquire AbleVets—a strategic IT consulting and engineering firm—as a wholly-owned subsidiary. The acquisition of the Washington, DC area-based company will provide Cerner even greater scale and technical expertise in designing and implementing modernization solutions, particularly in the federal space. The companies expect to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter.
“AbleVets has been a trusted partner to Cerner and is providing critical support to our federal programs,” said Travis Dalton, president, Cerner Government Services. “Integrating the team into our business is a natural next step of our relationship. We expect AbleVets’ technical expertise and execution in solving complex problems will accelerate Cerner’s success in providing integrated, seamless care for Veterans, Service members and their families.”
AbleVets was founded as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and focuses on the unique missions of federal health clients. AbleVets brings 350 professionals—many of whom are Veterans—specialized in cybersecurity, agile engineering, analytics and technology enablement to Cerner. These professionals have deep experience in delivering value to federal health clients, while reducing the time, cost and risk associated with IT modernization efforts.
“I launched AbleVets to deliver health IT solutions that improve Veteran health,” said Dr. Wyatt Smith, founder and CEO of AbleVets, who served as an oncologist in the Navy. “By working with Cerner over the past year, we’ve been able to make important strides in laying the groundwork on our shared mission to transform care for those who served our country. By combining AbleVets’ strategic and technical expertise in the federal space with Cerner’s global scale, technology and innovation, we can expand our collective reach, accelerate developments and make the greatest impact on improving outcomes across the care continuum. We’re excited to join forces with Cerner and bring even more value and quality health care to those who have served.”
Cerner brings a high caliber of talent to support our federal clients. The company leverages internal expertise, innovative partners and with the AbleVets acquisition, external talent to fortify its implementation of the program.
“As Cerner continues to drive health care innovation, we continue to seek top talent to enable our clients to deliver the highest quality of care. Teaming up with health technology leaders that bring specialized industry expertise and capabilities—like AbleVets for the federal market—will further help us drive optimal outcomes at an exceptional value for our clients and taxpayers. This is a transformational program and Cerner is building for our immediate needs while making decisions and investments to ensure we have the right talent in place for long-term success,” said Dalton.
All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of Cerner’s management with respect to future events and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties. It is important to note that Cerner’s performance, and actual results, financial condition or business could differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. The words “expects” or the negative of these words, variations thereof or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. For example, our forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expected benefits of the acquisition of AbleVets. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the possibility of significant costs and reputational harm related to product-related liabilities; potential claims for system errors and warranties; the possibility of interruption at our data centers or client support facilities, or those of third parties with whom we have contracted (such as public cloud providers), that could expose us to significant costs and reputational harm; the possibility of increased expenses, exposure to legal claims and regulatory actions and reputational harm associated with a cyberattack or other breach in our IT security or the IT security of third parties on which we rely; our proprietary technology may be subject to claims for infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property rights of others, or may be infringed or misappropriated by others; potential claims or other risks associated with relying on open source software in our proprietary software solutions or technology-enabled services; material adverse resolution of legal proceedings or other claims; risks associated with the unexpected loss or recruitment and retention of key personnel or the failure to successfully develop and execute succession planning to assure transitions of key associates and their knowledge, relationships and expertise; risks associated with failure to timely or effectively manage publicity related to harassment or discrimination claims and legal proceedings if such claims are raised against key personnel; risks related to our dependence on strategic relationships and third party suppliers; risks inherent with business acquisitions and combinations and the integration thereof into our business or relating to disputes involving such acquisitions or combinations; significant competition and our ability to quickly respond to market changes, changing technologies and evolving pricing and deployment methods and to bring competitive new solutions, devices, features and services to market in a timely fashion; managing growth in the new markets in which we offer solutions, health care devices or services; long sales cycles for our solutions and services; risks inherent in contracting with government clients, including without limitation, complying with strict compliance and disclosure obligations, navigating complex procurement rules and processes and defending against bid protests; changing political, economic, regulatory and judicial influences, which could impact the purchasing practices and operations of our clients and increase costs to deliver compliant solutions and services; and non-compliance with laws, government regulation or certain industry initiatives or failure to deliver solutions or services that enable our clients to comply with laws or regulations applicable to their businesses; Additional discussion of these and other risks, uncertainties and factors affecting Cerner’s business is contained in Cerner’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, since the statements speak only as of the date that they are made. Except as required by law, Cerner undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or changes in our business, results of operations or financial condition over time.
SOURCE: Cerner