Amazon, UnitedHealth Enter Bidding for Signify Health

DALLAS, Texas (August 23, 2022)—UnitedHealth, Amazon, CVS Health and Option Care Health are bidding for Signify Health, a technology company focused on shifting the health care continuum to value-based care, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. The company’s shares jumped nearly 40% premarket Monday following the news. 

Signify Health’s core business centers on home visits and home-based interventions, particularly around identifying and addressing gaps in risk adjustment for payers. It offers in-home health evaluations for Medicare Advantage and other government-run managed care plans.

Signify is for sale in an auction that could value it at more than $8 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Bids are due around Labor Day, according to the sources.

People familiar with the process told Bloomberg that UnitedHealth has submitted the highest bid in excess of $30 per share, with Amazon close behind. Signify’s board is planning to meet Monday to discuss the bids. 

No plans are finalized, and bidders could change their minds or Signify could choose to remain independent. Representatives for all brands involved declined to comment on the matter.

In March, UnitedHealth announced it would be acquiring home health provider LHC Group for $170 per share in cash, or about $5.4 billion. The company is also in dispute with the Justice Deparment (DOJ) over its proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare, an analytics and billing platform for the health care continuum. The DOJ said the acquisition would give UnitedHealth too much insight into competitive data, according to Fierce Healthcare. 

Amazon recently agreed to acquire the primary care company One Medical. 

CVS Health announced its intentions to expand into homecare and primary care on its second quarter earnings call, a strategy that will include mergers and acquisitions, CEO Karen Lynch said.