June 5 (Reuters) – UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) made a surprise $3.26 billion cash offer on Monday to acquire Amedisys Inc (AMED.O). .
Interest in the home healthcare sector has exploded since the pandemic as patients and caregivers increasingly prefer to access medical services from the safety of their homes.
UnitedHealth, through its Optum unit, offered to pay $100 per share in cash just one month after Amedisys agreed to be purchased by Option Care Health Inc (OPCH.O) for $97.38 per share in an all- stock deal.
If Optum’s offer is accepted by Amedisys, the deal will expand UnitedHealth’s presence in home healthcare, which it strengthened this year through a $5.4 billion deal to buy Amedisys’ rival, LHC Group.
Several analysts expressed concern that a UnitedHealth deal would likely be scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission given UnitedHealth’s presence in the home care space.
“The first thing that comes to mind…FTC!” Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut said in a note, but added that the transaction appears acceptable after an objective analysis of the home care market, which is fragmented and lacks a dominant player.
The Amedisys board has not yet determined whether Optum’s offering is superior to Option Health’s and is currently in exploratory discussions with the UnitedHealth unit.
Optum’s offer was at a 26% premium to Amedisys’ latest closing price and sent the company’s shares up 14% to $90.94 in morning trading.
Option Care said the offer was still an “attractive all-stock transaction”. The shares, which are down 11% since the deal was announced, rose 7% on Monday.
“Overall, this new wrinkle appears to give Amedisys options if it regretted its original deal,” said Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn.
Amedisys will have to pay Option $106 million if it terminates their agreement.
Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Shinjini Ganguli