Healthcare mergers and acquisitions are in no short supply as providers, health tech companies, payers and other industry players look to expand their businesses and gain a competitive edge. Here’s a roundup of new deals that were revealed, closed, rumored or called off during the month of April.
Provider
Kaiser Permanente unveiled an ambitious plan to acquire 10-hospital Geisinger Health and make it the cornerstone of a new multisystem value-based care organization. That new entity, called Risant Health, will be a nonprofit organization that operates “separately and distinctly from Kaiser Permanente’s core integrated care and coverage model” and would reportedly see another five or six more “nonprofit, value-oriented community-based health systems” join its ranks. Financial terms and a timeline for the Geisinger acquisition were not disclosed.
Sparrow Health System and the University of Michigan Health consummated a $7 billion merger at the top of April. The combination creates a statewide system of more than 200 care sites including the University of Michigan Health academic medical center.
AmerisourceBergen Corp. and TPG announced plans to purchase specialty practice network OneOncology from growth equity firm General Atlantic. The pickup would allow AmerisourceBergen to diversify beyond its drug distribution business by expanding into the oncology space. The deal is valued at $2.1 billion and is expected to close by the end of September pending regulatory approvals and other conditions. It would leave private equity firm TPG with the majority interest in OneOncology and AmerisourceBergen a 35% ownership stake.
Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services have again delayed their planned 58-hospital merger to give the Minnesota attorney general's office more time for review. The deal doesn’t have a current target date, though the nonprofits said they would provide the attorney general 90 days prior note to any new closing date.
Froedtert Health and ThedaCare have shared plans to merge and form an 18-hospital nonprofit. The Midwest organizations said they hope to pen a definitive agreement and close the deal before year-end should regulatory approvals pan out.
LCMC Health had a done deal with its purchase of three Tulane University hospitals from HCA Healthcare before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided to weigh in. The reportedly $150 million transaction had been approved by state regulators in January but received pushback from the federal regulator alongside threats of a per-day fine until another review was conducted. LCMC has challenged the FTC’s claim in court.
Carle Health and UnityPoint closed an integration deal that brings three of the latter's Illinois hospitals and other associated locations under Carle's wing. The sites previously made up UnityPoint’s central Illinois regional network.
UnitedHealth Group picked up Crystal Run Healthcare, yet another provider group, for its Optum Health subsidiary in a quiet deal that closed in February but was only reported in April. The New York-based physician group has about 400 doctors, whereas Optum currently has more than 70,000 under its wing.
Marshall Health, Marshall University and Mountain Health Network have signed a letter of intent to merge and form a four-hospital integrated academic health system in West Virginia. They aim to close the deal by 2024.
Community Health Systems sold its 25-bed Plateau Medical Center to Vandalia Health for roughly $92 million. The deal marks the for-profit’s departure from West Virginia.
University of South Alabama Health said it is buying the 349-bed Ascension Providence Hospital and its clinics for $85 million. The deal is slated to close in the fall.
Quorum Health is reportedly selling Tennessee’s Vista Medical Center East to American Healthcare Systems. The deal is set to close on May 31.
Amedisys has sold its personal care division to HouseWorks, a personal care services provider active in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Maine.
Payer
Bright Health is seeking a buyer for its California-based Medicare Advantage business by the end of May. A deal would secure a much-needed extension to its credit facility through June 30, which the floundering insurtech hopes will be enough time to right the business.
LHC Group, now part of UnitedHealth Group, has purchased home health company Summit Home Care for an undisclosed sum. Summit’s services span 37 states and the District of Columbia.
Tech
Availity, a health information network handling billions of claims and data transactions between providers and payers, has acquired Olive’s artificial-intelligence-enabled payer-facing business. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though it comes after the healthcare AI unicorn shed hundreds of employees and shared plans to refocus on automated revenue cycle solutions for health system customers.
EVisit, a virtual care platform company, picked up Bluestream Health to add digital front door capabilities, integrated language services and other digital tools to its solution. The deal brings Bluestream’s health system customers to eVisit’s business as well as more than 200 new languages to its platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
XRHealth and Amelia Virtual Care (formerly Psious VR) plan to merge under the former’s brand name to create a more expansive virtual reality therapy and assessment platform. The deal is subject to shareholder approval.
AQuity Solutions has purchased Axea Solutions in a bid to bolster its revenue cycle management portfolio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Eruptr, a provider of tech tools for healthcare digital marketing, has merged with Decode, a full-service digital and creative agency focused on healthcare. The newly formed entity is called Unlock Health and is backed by Amulet Capital Partners and Athyrium Capital Management.