UnitedHealth considering purchase of Surgery Partners
Surgery Partners is the third-largest ASC operator in the country, and private equity firms are reportedly also interested in buying the chain.
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UnitedHealth Group is one of several potential buyers of Surgery Partners, an operator of ambulatory surgical centers, and negotiations on a potential deal are still in the nascent phase, Bloomberg reported.
Surgery Partners is the third-largest ASC operator in the country, and private equity firms are reportedly also interested in buying the chain, with TPG expressing particular interest.
At this point, a deal is not guaranteed, though Surgery Partners' stock did increase 18% after it was revealed that UHG and TPG are suitors, found a report in Seeking Alpha.
Transaction amounts have not been disclosed, though some estimate Surgery Partners' value at between $3.6 billion and $4.3 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Private equity firm Bain Capital is Surgery Partners' largest shareholder with a 39% stake, Seeking Alpha reported.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT
UHG subsidiary Optum owns SCA Health, the country's second-largest SC operator, after purchasing it for $2.3 billion in 2017. At that time, the acquisition of the outpatient surgery chain created a comprehensive ambulatory care services platform for Optum, including primary care, urgent care and surgical care services.
In July, Optum backed out of a deal to buy the Steward Health Care physician group in Massachusetts. Optum's purchase of the group was one step in a bankruptcy restructuring process to sell the 31 hospitals in the troubled health system. The Department of Justice filed an objection to the debtor-in-possession financing terms for Steward Health Care, while Steward cited a "challenging" review process at the federal Department of Justice, according to WMUR.
THE LARGER TREND
The Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group in February, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Investigators interviewed healthcare industry representatives in sectors in which UnitedHealth competes, including physician groups, according to people with knowledge of the meetings. Optum includes about 90,000 physicians, according to the report.
Questions include the effect of Optum Health's physician group acquisitions on rivals and consumers. Investigators have also asked whether UnitedHealthcare favored Optum-owned groups in its contracting practices and whether Optum's ownership of providers presents challenges to health insurers that are rivals to UnitedHealthcare.
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.
