Athenahealth has entered into a definitive agreement to be jointly acquired by affiliates of Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman for $17 billion, according to a news release.

Athenahealth, based in Watertown, Mass., is a provider of cloud-based enterprise software solutions for medical groups and health systems.

Bain Capital Private Equity, based in Boston, focuses on making control and minority equity investments and prefers to make more substantial investments from a dollars perspective. Founded in 1984, the firm invests in healthcare and several other industries, targeting companies with revenue of at least $100 million. Within healthcare, Bain Capital Private Equity targets companies in the provider services, hospital/major facilities, life sciences/pharmaceutical and non-reimbursement industries.

Hellman & Friedman, based in San Francisco, is a private equity firm focused on making large-scale equity investments. Founded in 1984, the firm targets investments in healthcare and several other industries.

The private equity firms will purchase from Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital.

Veritas, based in New York, is a private equity firm that primarily targets technology or technology-enabled solutions for several sectors, including healthcare.

Evergreen, based in Melo Park, Calif., is the private equity subsidiary of hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. Evergreen focuses on technology investing.