UnitedHealth Sweetens All-Cash Deal for Amedisys

UnitedHealth Group’s health care services arm, Optum, has agreed to buy home health and hospice provider Amedisys Inc. for $101 per share in cash, valuing the company at roughly $3.3 billion and ending its previously planned merger with Option Care Health, Inc.

Earlier this month, Optum made a bid to buy Louisiana-based Amedisys in an all-cash transaction for $100 per share and more than the $97.38 per share all-stock deal with Option Care in May. Option Care received a $106 million termination fee, the company said in a filing.

The acquisition is UnitedHealth’s second of a home health and hospice provider, following the $5.4 billion purchase of LHC, as the integrated healthcare behemoth seeks to capture revenue from medical care increasingly given outside of hospitals.

“The combination of Amedisys with Optum unites two organizations dedicated to providing compassionate, value-based comprehensive care to patients and their families,” Amedisys wrote in an announcement.