UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) deal for the home health giant LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) is set to close. Eventually.
According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the deal is now expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2023.
“As previously disclosed, on June 10, 2022, the company and UnitedHealth Group each received a request for additional information and documentary materials from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in connection with the FTC’s review of the merger,” the filing read. “On December 6, 2022, the company and UnitedHealth Group certified to the FTC their substantial compliance with their respective second requests. As a result of the foregoing, the company expects the closing of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, including the merger, to occur in the first quarter of 2023.”
The deal was initially announced at the end of March 2022. At this rate, it will be a year – or close to it – by the time the deal is officially closed.
While a report from Dealreporter last month – citing sources familiar with the matter – suggested that the deal would close in December, that seems to no longer be the case.
As noted above, both parties received a request from the FTC for more information regarding the acquisition in June. A month after, each received a second inquiry from the agency, supposedly centered around worker pay in home health care.
At this point, though delayed, the deal seems well on track to close. When it does, LHC Group will be integrated into UnitedHealth Group’s Optum.
At UnitedHealth Group’s recent investor conference, the company touted its at-home capabilities over and again without mentioning LHC Group by name.
“Through home and community, we [can] find a new way to bring the good idea to people’s homes without necessarily having to wait to build out the clinic strategy,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said. “It’s a great way for us to accelerate the delivery of what we believe to be a highly effective, extremely sustainable approach to more people, more quickly.”
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