UnitedHealth Group’s $13 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare will proceed, after a federal judge on Monday denied the Justice Department’s efforts to block the deal on antitrust grounds, Axios reports.
Judge Carl J. Nichols also ordered UnitedHealth to divest payment integrity group ClaimsXten to TPG Capital for $2.2 billion in cash, as the company previously agreed to do.
Regulators in February concluded that UnitedHealth’s purchase of Change was anti-competitive, setting the stage for a several-day trial in August.
The DOJ alleged that the deal would give UHG access to its rival health insurers’ competitively sensitive data, plus unfair access to any future innovation by Change.
UnitedHealth has long been known as an aggressive buyer, but its M&A spree accelerated in 2022. Other recent purchases include home care giant LHC Group ($5.4 billion), Refresh Mental Health ($1.2 billion), Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and Healthcare Associates of Texas. Read more.
