Amil is sold to the founder of Qualicorp for R$ 11 billion – 12/22/2023 – Market

UnitedHealth Group, owner of Amil, agreed to sell the health plan operator to businessman José Seripieri Filho, who founded Qualicorp, but later left the company in 2019.

According to a source involved in the business and linked to Seripieri, the operation totaled R$11 billion.

With the transaction, this is the largest merger and acquisition deal ever made between a company and a single individual in Brazil. The operation was advised by Bichara Advogados and Spinelli Advogados.

Among the R$11 billion in the transaction, Seripieri financed R$2 billion with banks Santander, Bradesco, BR Partners and BTG Pactual.

The Panel SA column had already reported that Seripieri Filho, who is a friend of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and the investment fund Bain Capital were competing for the deal.

Also in the running, according to the column, were the Dasa group, the Advent and Coruja funds (owned by Marcos Schettini) and Alliança, owned by businessman Nelson Tanure.

Seripieri left Qualicorp in 2019, opened QSaúde in 2020 to sell individual plans, but had left the sector again in the middle of this year.

He sold the portfolio of QSaúde beneficiaries to the Alice health plan this year. At the time, the businessman expressed to the Sheet who didn’t have the same desire to return to the industry.

“Depending on the opportunity, it could be, but today I’m more afraid than I want to undertake in this area”, he stated, in an interview in June. He argued that he sees distortions in adjustments and a lack of interest on the part of large operators in the individual plan market.

When contacted, Amil did not confirm the purchase and limited itself to saying that it “does not comment on market speculation”.

When questioned, the ANS (National Supplementary Health Agency) stated that the operation is only carried out when it has the approval of the regulatory agency, which has not been consulted on the case so far. In 2022, the ANS even blocked the sale of Amil.

Sale of part of the company was blocked in 2022

The sale of Amil was one of the most anticipated deals in the health insurance sector. The company is one of the largest operators in the country: it has 5.4 million beneficiaries, 383 thousand client companies, 19 hospitals, 52 laboratory units, nine dental clinics and around 21 thousand employees.

Its accredited network covers 1,600 hospitals and 6,200 laboratories and diagnostic centers. Controlled by the American UnitedHealth, Amil hired the bank BTG Pactual at the end of 2021 to buy its deficit portfolio of individual and family health plans.

The portfolio is in deficit because the readjustment of these plans does not follow inflation and is regulated by the ANS.

In 2021, for example, the agency indicated a negative adjustment of 8.2%, that is, individual plans had to reduce prices. In 2022, the increase was 15.50%, much criticized by users. This year, the increase was 9.63% and will remain in effect until April 2024.

BTG arrived at Fiord Capital, an investment fund created in November last year. The fund would receive R$3 billion to take over the portfolio of the then 330,000 users in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná.

Through the operation designed for the change of control, APS, part of the Amil group, would become responsible for individual and family health plans, a deal that was approved by the ANS.

But, at the beginning of 2022, the APS took control of Fiord – a movement blocked by the ANS. The regulatory agency claimed there was a lack of information about the change in corporate control.

At the time, a report from Sheet pointed out cases of customers distressed by the imminent change of hands of Amil’s individual and family plans. According to reports, the company’s accredited network had shrunk in previous months, without prior notice, which is against the law.

The health plan must notify the consumer 30 days in advance about the deaccreditation of a specific hospital or laboratory – and must present an alternative of the same level to the customer, in the same region.

In collaboration with Joana Cunha