UK Watchdog Provisionally Clears $1.58B UnitedHealth-EMIS Deal

The UnitedHealth Group’s proposed acquisition of EMIS, a healthcare technology firm, was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK. Aby Jose Koilparambil, a Reuters reporter, said. “Britain’s competition regulator has provisionally cleared UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of healthcare technology firm EMIS.” Eva Mathews, also with Reuters, adds “The Competition and Markets Authority found no competition concerns in the deal between specialist health care tech and software companies.”

The offer to acquire EMIS was made by Optum UK, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, in June last year. The CMA launched its initial merger enquiry in January and referred the deal to a deeper probe in March. However, after a thorough investigation, the CMA found that no competition concerns are present in the deal, allowing for the acquisition to be approved.

Related: UK Watchdog Says UnitedHealth Takeover Of EMIS Could Hurt National Health Service

Together, Optum UK and EMIS will work to create a more innovative healthcare sector. UnitedHealth Group commented on the deal as a “strong bridge between the skills, innovations and networks of both companies”. With the approval of the CMA, both companies are now able to pursue their mission to bring high quality healthcare to people across the UK.

Source: Saltwire