UPDATED: Aug. 14 at 2:30 p.m. ET
UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys have officially closed their $3.3 billion merger deal just one week after securing a key settlement agreement with the feds that allowed proceedings to advance.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amedisys said that the deal had officially closed Thursday, just over two years from when it was announced in late June 2023.
That makes the home health company now a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth, where it will join the company's Optum unit. Amedisys was originally set to be acquired by Option Care Heath, but the organization was outbid by UnitedHealth.
To make sure the merger was consummated, the two parties agreed last week to divest 164 home health and hospice facilities across 19 states, securing approval from the Department of Justice to move forward.
The DOJ sued to block the merger in November, arguing that it would impair competition in the home health space.
ORIGNALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 7
UnitedHealth Group and home health company Amedisys have reached a settlement with the federal government that will allow their $3.3 billion acquisition deal to move forward.
As part of the settlement, the two companies agreed to divest 164 home health and hospice locations in 19 states. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that this would be the largest divestiture of outpatient facilities ever required to close a merger, based on the number of locations.
The 164 divested facilities account for about $528 million in yearly revenue, according to the DOJ.
“In no sector of our economy is competition more important to Americans’ well-being than healthcare,” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a press release. "This settlement protects quality and price competition for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable patients and wage competition for thousands of nurses."
In addition, UnitedHealth would be obligated under the settlement to divest a further eight facilities if it fails to secure regulatory approval for the planned divestitures without the additional facilities included.
DOJ said that a monitor will be selected to supervise the selling process, and the buyers will be provided with the resources necessary to compete with UnitedHealth, including personnel, assets and necessary relationships. The settlement includes protections that would prevent the merging parties from interfering in the divested locations' ability to compete.
Amedisys also agreed to pay a $1.1 million civilian penalty for "falsely certifying that the company had truthfully, correctly, and completely responded to the United States’ requests for documents," according to the DOJ. It will also be required to provide additional compliance training to leadership.
The feds sued to block the merger in November over concerns that it would significantly reduce competition in the home health space. Four states—Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York—also joined the lawsuit.
UnitedHealth's Optum unit, which will absorb Amedisys once the merger is finalized, has maintained that the deal would promote competition.
Amedisys was initially set to be acquired by OptionCare, though UnitedHealth later outbid it to secure the deal.