Exclusive: Carlyle, Hellman among firms vying for One Call - sources

Carlyle Group LP and Hellman & Friedman LLC are among the private equity firms competing for One Call Care Management Inc, a medical cost containment services company that is on the block for more than $1.5 billion, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Apax Partners LLP, Advent International Corp, General Atlantic LLC and Berkshire Partners LLC are also in the running for One Call, with meetings with the company's management starting this month, the people said this week.

One Call's private equity owner, Odyssey Investment Partners LLC, has asked Jefferies Group LLC to handle the sale process, people familiar with the matter told Reuters in July. {ID:nL6N0FF01B]

The people asked not to be identified because the sale process is private. Representatives of One Call, Odyssey, Advent, Hellman & Friedman, Apax and Berkshire did not have any immediate comment. Carlyle and General Atlantic declined to comment.

One Call provides workers' healthcare compensation payors, such as insurance companies, with discounted access to diagnostic radiology and neurodiagnostics providers.

The Parsippany, New Jersey-based company makes its money on the spread between the prices charged to these payors and the discounted prices contracted with providers and vendors in its network.

Odyssey, a New York-based buyout firm with about $3 billion in assets under management, acquired One Call Medical Inc in 2009 and merged it with industry peer MSC Care Management Inc in 2012.

One Call's $529 million acquisition of MSC was made possible partly through a $210 million senior unsecured term loan held by GSO Capital Partners, the credit investment arm of Blackstone Group LP, which also invested in One Call Care Management's equity, according to credit research notes issued at the time.

Besides the MSC merger, One Call made several other acquisitions to expand its networks under Odyssey's ownership. In July, the company said it would acquire smaller peer TechHealth Inc.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)