US-based health insurance company UnitedHealth Group has reportedly agreed to divest its Brazilian health insurance business Amil to private investor José Seripieri Filho.
José Seripieri Filho was the founder and former CEO of health insurance firm Qualicorp.
The sale includes Amil Insurance, Amil Integrated Care, Amil Dental and Americas Hospitals in Brazil.
Last week, Reuters reported that Seripieri will acquire Amil for around BRL2.5bn ($515.24m), citing two anonymous sources.
In a regulatory filing, UnitedHealth said it will incur a $7bn charge related to the transaction, most of which is non-cash, due to foreign currency translation losses.
UnitedHealth emailed Reuters: “We believe this agreement will ensure ongoing success, working with a buyer who has the local knowledge and experience to continue the positive momentum of the business.”
UnitedHealth has been looking to sell Amil, which has 5.4 million health and dental insurance beneficiaries in Brazil, for a few years.
The company struggled to sell the Brazilian unit, which was acquired in 2012 for $5bn, due to antitrust issues and losses from individual health plans.
Amil received proposals from several investors, including Nelson Tanure, valuing the Brazilian unit at $509 to $610m, alongside Jose Seripieri Filho and Bian Capital.
In June last year, UnitedHealth, through its health services unit Optum, offered to acquire home healthcare service company Amedisys for a total of $3.26bn.
UnitedHealth offered to pay Amedisys shareholders $100 in cash for each share of Amedisys held.
The proposed transaction represents a 26% premium to Amedisys’ recent closing share price and 29% to its unaffected share price of $77.26, said the US health insurer.
