EVH up on acquiring Centene's specialty benefit management unit

Evolent Health

18/11/2022 19:43

** Shares of telehealth co Evolent Health Inc  EVH.N  rise
14.8% to $27.4
    ** Co late on Thursday said it will acquire Centene Corp's
 CNC.N  specialty benefit management organization Magellan
Specialty Health, also known as NIA, to build on EVH's specialty
care business
    ** Health insurer Centene to receive $650 mln at deal close
with additional contingent consideration of up to $150 mln if
certain performance metrics are achieved
    ** EVH to fund the upfront consideration in part by $250 mln
in its equity issued to the sellers at $29.50, a 24% premium to
Wednesday's closing price
    ** NIA, which provides utilization management solutions to
health plans, was acquired by CNC in January 2022 
    ** Upon deal close, CNC and EVH to also enter into a
partnership, extending CNC's contracts with NIA through 2027;
CNC shares now up 1.6% at $82.3
    ** EVH expects the partnership expansion with CNC to
generate at least $20 mln of adj. EBITDA by Q4 of 2024
    ** EVH and CNC down ~1% and 0.2% YTD
 (Reporting by Pratik Jain)
 ((Pratik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))