Fair Isaac has sold their bill review business
Fair Isaac will announce today that they have sold their workers comp and auto bill review unit to competitor Mitchell Medical.
And no, this isn't an April Fool's prank.
FI has been on the market, with several financial and strategic buyers looking over the property but no firm offers until one was proffered by IME and peer review firm MCN. Sources indicate MCN was the likely buyer, till Mitchell stepped back in (they had previously engaged and withdrawn) and in a matter of days consummated the deal.
The acquisition makes sense strategically; Mitchell dominates the auto claims business, and FI has solid share in WC as well as some auto business. What FI really needs is consistent, reliable investment in its technology, something the parent company was unlikely to continue.
Mitchell will now have a reasonable entre into the WC business, and eliminate one of its competitors for auto bill review.
For FI's current clients, this is likely good news, as their uncertain future made for difficult decisions. We'll have to wait and see what changes Mitchell makes; word is the execs (unnamed, to be sure) at FI will be fine. I'm just a bit curious about this; surely they must accept some share of the responsibility for some of the problems that has led to the sale.
Here's hoping that the non-exec working folks don't get tossed - not only would that be unfortunate, but there's a lot of corporate and industry knowledge in those heads that Mitchell will need if it wants to grow the business.