Amedisys dumps Option Care for UnitedHealth’s Optum

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) has successfully lured Amedisys Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) away from its previous union with another company. 

Amedisys, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based home health care provider, announced Monday that it has agreed to a takeover from UnitedHealth services subsidiary Optum. The deal ended with an all-cash payout of Amedisys shareholders of $101 per share — or nearly $3.3 billion, based on the number of outstanding Amedisys shares. Amedisys stock previously closed last Friday at just over $91 per share.

Eden-Prairie-based Optum first announced its unsolicited bid for Amedisys earlier this month, with an initial offer of $100 per share. This was after Amedisys accepted a buyout in May from Option Care (NASDAQ: OPCH), a provider of home-based infusion services based in Bannockburn, Illinois. That deal offered Amedisys $97.38 per share in stock, not cash. 

Optum and Amedisys haven’t disclosed a closing timeframe for the new merger agreement, which still needs final approval from regulators and Amedisys shareholders. 

The Amedisys-UnitedHealth deal includes a $125 million termination fee if Amedisys walks away, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Alternatively, if the merger gets blocked by antitrust regulators, UnitedHealth would owe Amedisys $144 million. WSJ also said that termination could occur if the deal isn’t concluded within a year, or 18 months with an extension, according to a securities filing.

UnitedHealth recently had issues with one of its previous acquisitions of another Louisiana-based home healthcare provider. Optum’s $5.4 billion acquisition of LHC Group had been announced in early 2022, but was delayed by regulators until it eventually cleared approvals and closed in February.