April 14, 2022 (Boston, MA) – Covington Associates, a leading middle market investment bank announced its role as exclusive financial advisor to United Rheumatology, LLC ("United Rheumatology") in the sale of its business to Specialty Networks, LLC ("Specialty Networks"), a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners. Founded in 2014, United Rheumatology is the leading exclusive Rheumatology group purchasing organization (GPO) and real-world evidence (RWE) data & analytics company with 635 active independent Rheumatology providers in its network.

"We are excited to welcome United Rheumatology into the Specialty Networks' family of companies," said David Coury, CEO of Specialty Networks. "Our shared mission to help improve patient care by strengthening independent specialty providers makes this acquisition a great fit for both of our companies. With the acquisition of United Rheumatology, Specialty Networks adds a third specialty to its portfolio of specialty-focused companies."

United Rheumatology brings a suite of complementary services to Specialty Networks, including group purchasing services, sponsored educational events, life science data & analytics, and value-based payor programs. Specialty Networks will further enhance United Rheumatology's capabilities by introducing additional service offerings to its network practices and industry clients, which include in-office dispensing/pharmacy services; clinical and administrative programming; patient identification, retention, and engagement technology; outsourced clinical navigation; and decentralized clinical trials.

"Joining forces with Specialty Networks will further enable community Rheumatology practices to remain independent and advance the standard of care for their patients. This is a fantastic opportunity for our organizations to continue evolving precision medicine to ensure each patient receives the right care at the right time," said Dr. Max Hamburger, Founder, United Rheumatology.

With a presence in Urology, Gastroenterology, and Rheumatology, Specialty Networks offers a comprehensive solution that adds substantial value to independent specialty providers and industry clients. The significant growth of the Specialty Networks platform further highlights the need to support patients, providers, and industry clients in specialized areas of medicine that have high healthcare expenditures.

Covington Associates, LLC served as M&A advisor and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP served as legal advisor to United Rheumatology. Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLC served as legal advisor to Specialty Networks.

ABOUT COVINGTON ASSOCIATES

Covington Associates is an investment banking firm offering advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), capital raising and strategic advisory to middle-market companies across the Healthcare, Business Services, Consumer & Industrial, and Technology verticals. Founded in 1991 and based in Boston, the vision for Covington has been to provide clients with the highest caliber of senior-level attention and to remain an advice driven and results focused organization. Since its inception, Covington Associates has completed over 350 transactions globally for both private and publicly traded companies totaling over $30 billion. Further information can be found at http://www.covingtonassociates.com/overview/.

ABOUT UNITED RHEUMATOLOGY

United Rheumatology is the pre-eminent rheumatology care management organization empowering rheumatologists to advance the standard of care while leading in the development of value-based precision medicine. “The goal was to grow the UR network to the size where it could bend the dial in a meaningful way when working with payors and policymakers on any of the different innovations aimed at proving value in healthcare: providing cost effective care with prioritization of getting the proper care for each individual patient.” – Dr. Max Hamburger, Founder and Executive Chairman. Further information can be found at https://unitedrheumatology.com/.

ABOUT SPECIALTY NETWORKS, LLC

Specialty Networks, LLC brings together the functional expertise of UroGPO, GastroGPO, United Rheumatology, PPS Analytics, and SN Research to deliver innovative and meaningful solutions for independent specialty providers. Specialty Networks serves a highly specialized member network of 1,000+ physician group practices consisting of over 8,300 providers in Urology, Gastroenterology, and Rheumatology. Specialty Networks' mission is to help create clinical, economic, and operational value for our members leading to a positive patient impact. For more information, please visit www.specialtynetworksllc.com and www.unitedrheumatology.com.

Specialty Networks is a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country's largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden's strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. The firm has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.