UnitedHealth Acquires Amedisys, McCaul Continues Selling Spree

UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH:US) bolstered its home healthcare business with a $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys (AMED:US), a company that offers In-Home care services including therapy and skilled nursing among others. The deal comes over a year after UNH paid $5.4 billion to acquire LHC Group (LHCG:US), a rival of Amedisys.

The deal has been finalized at $101 per Amedisys share. This is $1 per share higher than the previous offer that UNH made earlier this month. Before that, Amedisys was already sitting on a $97.38 all-stock deal from Option Care Health Inc. But that deal has not materialized and UnitedHealth has finally come out as the successful acquirer. Amedisys owes Option Care $106 million for terminating the agreement.

The only hurdle that now remains is approval from the FTC, something analysts are confident won’t be a big hurdle given the fragmented nature of the home healthcare services business.

The UNH stock has witnessed more selling activity from politicians compared to buying activity. Most recently, Michael McCaul sold $30,000 - $100,000 worth of stock on May 10 when the stock closed at $490.07. He also sold a similar quantity in the month of February. His trading history in the stock suggests he has been on a selling spree for the last 12 months without a single buy trade. He seems to have timed those sales well as the stock hasn’t gone anywhere while trading sideways below its all-time highs.

Another notable sale came from the Democrat Jonathan Jackson, who sold $15,000 - $50,000 worth of UNH stock in late February. The stock closed at $475.94 on Tuesday.