Optum has completed its nearly $8 billion with Change Healthcare, bringing an end to an embattled and controversial transaction.
The deal, originally announced in 2021, brings together UnitedHealth Group’s health services business, Optum, with Change Healthcare, which provides data and analytics-driven solutions. UnitedHealth Group is one of the biggest healthcare conglomerates in the United States.
The completion comes just days after a federal judge ruled the deal could move ahead after the Department of Justice attempted to block the merger on the grounds that it violated antitrust laws.
UnitedHealth Group and Optum have gobbled up acquisitions over the past few years as more regulators and lawmakers have raised their eyebrows about potential harms to market competition. Legal challenges have so far been overcome in UnitedHealth Group’s megamergers, with some concessions.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols required UntiedHealth Group to divest its claims editing business, ClaimsXen, as part of its merger deal with Change Healthcare. However, UnitedHealth previously offered to sell this business to placate fears of antitrust issues. ClaimsXen was to be sold to TPG Capital for $2.2 billion in the final financial details of the merger.
Earlier this year, UnitedHealth announced it was acquiring LHC Group, a home healthcare giant, for $5.4 billion. Plus, UnitedHealth announced its acquisition of EMIS Group, a U.K.-based healthcare software and solutions company, for $1.5 billion.
The high rate of consolidation across the healthcare industry over the past few years has worried some patient advocates, as studies have shown hospital mergers drive up healthcare prices––a result of reduced competition. Despite more scrutiny on big mergers in the healthcare space, M&A activity isn’t done yet. Even when the volume of deals lags, the value of healthcare deals are still enormous as of late.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."