🔒Framingham healthcare data firm names new CEO, considers go-private proposal

Definitive Healthcare Corp. in Framingham has named a new CEO, as the company weighs an offer from a Boston-based private equity firm to take the company private.

Clay Ritchey was named Definitive’s new CEO and member of its board of directors, the company announced Wednesday. 

Ritchey joined Definitive after serving as CEO of Virginia-based healthcare data firm Verato, with prior stints as CEO of companies that include Connecticut-based Evariant and Maryland-based Equinox Healthcare. 

Former CEO Kevin Coop stepped down from his role at Definitive on Aug. 31, according to the firm. Coop’s departure is being treated as a termination without cause under his employment agreement, according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Definitive said Coop’s departure is not due to any disagreement with the company. The firm expects to reach a separation agreement with Coop, which will be disclosed at a later date. 

Coop began his role as CEO in June 2024. 

Definitive is a data and analytics company providing market intelligence to organizations operating on the business side of healthcare. The company’s change of CEOs and consideration of Advent’s offer comes after a shakeup of its executive roles in 2025 and the resignation of former CEO and board member Robert Musslewhite in 2024. 

Ritchey said his goal is to accelerate Definitive’s return to growth. Definitive Healthcare’s revenue declined 9% year over year to $55.2 million in the second quarter, and the company projected that 2026 revenue would fall 8% to 9%.

Ritchey will receive a $500,000 annual salary and be eligible for a target annual bonus equal to 87.5% of his base pay, or $437,500. His agreement provides for annual equity awards targeted at no less than $2 million and a $4 million new-hire equity package, with 65% in restricted stock units that vest over four years and 35% in performance-based units tied to a three-year performance period.

The replacement of Coop with Ritchey comes as Boston-based private equity firm Advent International has proposed taking the healthcare data firm private. Advent is the controlling shareholder of Definitive. 

Advent’s proposal was made public Wednesday, offering to acquire all outstanding shares of Definitive's Class A stock and all outstanding interests of the business. This offer covers all shares and interests not already owned by Advent’s operating entity or Definitive Founder and Executive Chairman Jason Krantz. 

Advent is offering an all-cash purchase price of $1.02 per share and an equivalent amount per unit in AIDH TopCo, Definitive’s operating entity.

In a Wednesday filing with the SEC, Krantz said Advent’s proposed transaction is premised on his rolling his shares and LLC units into equity in Advent after it goes private.

Advent said its $1.02-per-share proposal represents a 36% premium to Definitive Healthcare’s 60-day volume-weighted average daily trading price of $0.75 as of Aug. 31.The private equity firm reported beneficial ownership of approximately 58.5% of Definitive, while Krantz reported beneficial ownership of approximately 17.6%. 

If deemed a group under SEC rules, the two would hold approximately 66.4% of the company’s Class A shares, although Krantz disclaimed group status. SEC beneficial-ownership rules say two or more investors can be treated as a group if they agree to act together to acquire, hold, vote or dispose of an issuer’s shares.

Krantz said in the filing he has made no binding commitment to roll over his holdings, and Advent’s offer remains nonbinding at this time. Definitive has formed a special committee of independent directors to weigh the proposal.

Definitive is traded on the Nasdaq. The stock closed Monday at 95 cents, slipped slightly to 90 cents Tuesday before climbing to $1.04 as of late Wednesday morning, after the Advent proposal became public. The stock’s year-to-date high is $2.87 per share, reached on Jan. 2.

Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.