UnitedHealth completes deal to acquire Change Healthcare

UnitedHealth Group completed the acquisition of Change Healthcare. Earlier, the company won court approval, defeating a Justice Department lawsuit in federal court. The agency strived to block the deal to acquire Change Healthcare for $13 billion.

Apparently, the Ministry of Justice will not appeal the judge’s decision. Antitrust legal experts claim that it would be a serious setback for the agency. 

The U.S. Justice Department sued to block UnitedHealth Group's acquisition, citing that the company will collect data from healthcare claims including from its health insurance competitors. However, federal Judge Carl Nichols dismissed the charge against UnitedHealth.

The judge ruled that there were serious gaps in the Justice Department's reasoning. According to the judge’s decision, the agency had relied on guesses rather than real evidence in the case.

UnitedHealth and the Justice Department had previously agreed to close a deal no earlier than 10 days after the decision would be made. As of Monday, the Justice Department hasn’t not yet appealed the ruling, despite all the comments they made.

To alleviate concerns about other potential antitrust lawsuits, UnitedHealth agreed to sell ClaimsXten to private equity group TPG Capital.