DOJ requires divestitures to resolve challenge to UnitedHealth-Amedisys deal

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, together with its state co-Plaintiffs, filed a proposed settlement requiring broad divestitures to resolve Plaintiffs’ challenge to UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) $3.3B acquisition of Amedisys (AMED). In addition, Amedisys would pay a $1.1M civil penalty to the United States for falsely certifying that it had provided “true, correct, and complete” responses under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, the DOJ announced. The proposed settlement would require UnitedHealth and Amedisys to divest 164 home health and hospice locations, including one affiliated palliative care facility, across 19 states, accounting for approximately $528M in annual revenue. “By number of facilities, the settlement would secure the largest divestiture of outpatient healthcare services to resolve a merger challenge,” the DOJ stated.