The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly mulling a possible lawsuit to block the acquisition of Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) by the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) subsidiary Optum.
Amedisys stock dipped 0.6% following reports of a lawsuit under consideration, SeekingAlpha reported. Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UHN), in June 2023 penned its agreement to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction of $101 per share, or about $3.3 billion. The transaction is expected to close this year.
Last summer, DOJ began investigating potential antitrust concerns related to the Amedisys-Optum deal. To date, neither Amedisys nor Optum have been accused of any wrongdoing. The DOJ performed a similar investigation — and filed a lawsuit — when Optum acquired the health care technology company Change Healthcare last year. A federal court eventually allowed that deal to proceed.
Now federal regulators are taking an even closer look, the Wall Street Journal reported in February.
“The investigators have in recent weeks been interviewing health care industry representatives in sectors where UnitedHealth competes, including doctor groups, according to people with knowledge of the meetings,” the Journal indicated.
During these interviews, investigators have been asking questions about the relationships between the company’s UnitedHealthcare insurance business and Optum Health, according to the Journal.
Last year, Optum also closed a $5.4 billion transaction for the home health and hospice provider LHC Group.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, Amedisys’ net service revenue rose to $570.8 million, compared to $562 million in the same period of the prior year. Its hospice segment saw revenue rise to $194.2 million in Q4, up from $186.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Companies featured in this article:
