Signify Health will be acquired by CVS for $8 billion

On Monday, CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS) agreed to acquire Signify Health for approximately $8 billion in cash. This would allow one of the largest U.S. healthcare companies to expand its home-based care management services.

In recent years, healthcare companies such as CVS have acquired physician groups and surgical centers in addition to providing health and drugstore coverage.

In an interview, CVS CEO Karen Lynch remarked, "We've been quite clear about what we were looking for in extending our health services, whether it be primary care, provider enablement, or in the home. Signify Health certainly checks off two of those boxes: in the home and provider enablement."

A network of 10,000 doctors who do home-based health and social needs evaluations for patients is provided by Signify Health to CVS, which operates pharmacies, pharmacy benefits, and Aetna insurance plans.

CVS believes that the transaction will occur during the first half of 2023 and that the acquisition will be "substantially" earnings accretive.

CVS indicated that it would acquire the company for $30.50 per share, or approximately $7.6 billion in equity plus $400 million in equity appreciation rights.

Lynch stated that the companies will work with antitrust regulators who assess commercial deals.

"We are not adversaries. There are no functions that overlap "Lynch said.

Large mergers and acquisitions have been subjected to stringent antitrust scrutiny, and lowering healthcare costs has been a significant strategic priority of the Biden administration.

SIGNIFY HEALTH

Signify Health services over 50 U.S. health insurance businesses, including CVS's Aetna division and rivals like UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH). UnitedHealth and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Inc. were among the companies interested in Signify, a source familiar with the situation earlier told Reuters.

Signify primarily serves organizations and providers linked with Medicare Advantage health plans, in which private insurers provide government-funded health benefits to seniors over 65. It also serves Medicaid plans for those with low incomes.

The startup intends to give 2.5 million individuals annual in-person and virtual health checks. Signify noted that the visits are integrated with technology and analytics to coordinate follow-up care and social assistance in an effort to enhance the health of underserved populations and lower health care costs.

Signify Health's CEO, Kyle Armbrester, who will continue to run the business, claimed that the company plans to expand into commercial health insurance.

The company has struggled since its initial public offering in early 2021 and announced a restructuring earlier this summer. It was first reported in August that a sale was being contemplated.

CVS indicated in a statement that it is "becoming more confident" in its ability to achieve its long-term profit goals. As mentioned in December 2021, this includes high single-digit year-over-year growth in 2023 and low double-digit year-over-year growth in 2024.

New Mountain Capital, which owns sixty percent of Signify Health, announced that it will support the purchase. Both CVS and Signify Health claimed that the transactions were authorized by their respective boards of directors.

BofA Securities of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), and Deutsche Bank respectively advised CVS and Signify Health (ETR:DBKGn).