William Blair downgrades Amedisys on tighter takeover spread

William Blair downgraded Amedisys (AMED) to Market Perform from Outperform after the company agreed to divest certain home health locations to VitalCaring. The firm expected a divestiture of a number of Amedisys home health assets would be required to satisfy potential antitrust concerns associated with the company s proposed acquisition by UnitedHealth (UNH). With the divestiture now agreed upon, the firm sees minimal risk that the UnitedHealth, Amedisys deal does not close. At about $96 per share, the shares offer a “much more reasonable” deal spread of roughly 5% than it carried in recent months given investor concerns about the deal close. Blair says the tighter deal spread now better reflects its expectation that the deal will close.