Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) filed paperwork Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission saying it has agreed to divest “certain” locations to an affiliate of home health and hospice company VitalCaring.
The divestiture was a way for Amedisys to avoid further antitrust concerns from regulators prior to it joining UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).
UnitedHealth Group’s Optum agreed to purchase Amedisys last June for a purchase price of $3.3 billion. Optum already owns LHC Group, another one of the largest home health companies in the country.
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Amedisys has 521 care centers in 37 states and the District of Columbia. It offers home health, hospice, palliative and home-based high-acuity care.
In May, a report surfaced that UnitedHealth Group and Amedisys were working with regulators on a divestment package over “over 100 locations.”
A short time after, a “private equity-backed” buyer for those locations emerged. Home Health Care News reported that buyer was VitalCaring, the Dallas-based home health and hospice company led by April Anthony. VitalCaring is backed by The Vistria Group and Nautic Partners.
VitalCaring then reportedly backed away from the deal, due to disagreements over the worth of those locations once they left the Amedisys network, sources told HHCN.
HHCN also reported at the time that it was likely both parties would come back to the table. VitalCaring is one of the few growing home health providers with enough capital backing to pull off an acquisition of this magnitude.
Now, the deal is agreed upon between the two parties, though details are minimal. A purchase price was not listed in Amedisys’ 8-K filing, nor was the number of locations.
According to the financial filing, the divestment agreement being finalized is dependent on the UnitedHealth Group deal going through.
“Consummation of the Divestiture is contingent on a number of conditions, including the consummation of the previously announced merger transaction (the “Merger Transaction”) contemplated under the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated June 26, 2023 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among UnitedHealth Group, Aurora Holdings Merger Sub Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (“Merger Sub”), and Amedisys, pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into Amedisys (the “Merger”) upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, with Amedisys surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group,” the filing states.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024.
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