UnitedHealth to sell Change Healthcare’s claims business for $2.2 billion

(Reuters) -UnitedHealth Team has agreed to offer Adjust Healthcare’s claims modifying organization for $2.2 billion in a transfer some analysts say could ease regulatory hurdles in the way of an $8 billion merger among the healthcare companies.

Previously this calendar year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) sued to quit the acquisition for supplying UnitedHealth access to competitors’ details, forcing the providers to lengthen the deal’s closing date by 9 months to Dec. 31.

The sale of the claims enterprise, to private equity firm TPG Money, will only go by after UnitedHealth’s acquisition of Adjust is total, Modify reported in a regulatory submitting. in this article

UnitedHealth and Modify offer you competing softwares for processing health care promises and together provide 38 of the top rated 40 health insurers in the region, the DoJ stated in its criticism in February.

Proudly owning Change’s statements company, ClaimsXten, would give UnitedHealth a window into rival health designs at Humana Inc, Anthem Inc

Citi analyst Daniel Grosslight said the sale of the claims business will likely remove the DoJ’s argument against the merger, and potentially increase the probability of the deal going through.

“We do not think this will reduce the value of Change to UnitedHealth as there is significant overlap between ClaimsXten and Optum’s PI solution,” Grosslight wrote in a note.

Optum is UnitedHealth’s health services unit which will absorb Change if the acquisition is completed.

UnitedHealth, which has said it would fight the lawsuit, did not have any further comments on the deal beyond the regulatory filing.

Shares of Change Healthcare were up 1.03% at $23.8, while UnitedHealth fell about 1% to $515.70.

“It looks like the market is betting that this transaction could grease the wheels of getting the deal done, considering the Change share movement today in a down market,” Morningstar analyst Julie Utterback told Reuters.