UNH wins provisional clearance from U.K. CMA to acquire EMIS

UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) is in the green this morning after the British regulator provisionally cleared its £1.2 billion acquisition of EMIS Group (LON: EMIS).

CMA says the takeover will not hurt competition

It’s been a year since UNH first revealed that an affiliate of its Optum UK – Bordeaux Holdings II has agreed to take over the health technology company for 1,925 pence a share.

On Friday, the Competition and Markets Authority said its in-depth investigation did not find competition concerns related to the aforementioned acquisition. According to Optum UK:

We’ll continue to engage cooperatively with the CMA until its investigation concludes.

Wall Street currently has a consensus “buy” rating on shares of the UnitedHealth Group that are currently trading at roughly the same price at which they started the year 2023.  

CMA will announce its final decision in October

The competition regulator of the United Kingdom will now consult and invite further comments on its provisional findings through the end of this month.  

It is scheduled to publish its final report on UNH’s acquisition of EMIS Group on October 5^th. Optum UK also said today:

We remain focused on supporting the long-term success of the NHS. Our aim is to help make the U.K. health care system work better for general practitioners and patients alike.

The stock market news arrives just weeks after UnitedHealth Group reported its financial results for the second quarter that handily topped Street estimates. The multinational managed healthcare and insurance company also recently raised its guidance for the full year (read more).