Option Care Health likely to have difficulty getting vote for Amedisys deal

Option Care (NASDAQ:OPCH) is expected to have a difficult time getting the shareholder vote needed for a stock deal with Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED).

Option Care (OPCH) was going to have a “very hard time” getting the vote, according to CNBC’s David Faber, who cited a number of large holders that he spoke to.

The report comes after Amedisys (AMED) announced on Monday that it received a rival all-cash $100 a share bid from UnitedHealth’s (NYSE:UNH) Optum unit. Amedisys is now having exploratory negotiations with Optum about a transaction. Amedisys (AMED) soared 15% on Monday on the news.

The value of Option Care’s (OPCH) original deal with Amedisys (AMED) was around $98 a share, but with the plunge in Option Care’s, which dropped 16% on May 4 on the announcement, fell to about $86 a share. Option Care (OPCH) shares jumped 7.4% in early trading on Monday.

A potential UnitedHealth (UNH) deal for Amedisys (AMED) may have some antitrust concerns, though CNBC’s Faber downplayed the worries, saying the deal is too small to have issues.

A potential Optum purchase of Amedisys (AMED) comes after UNH’s Optum completed its $5.4 billion cash purchase of home-health care provider LHG Group in February. LHC provides post-acute care mostly for Medicare beneficiaries, including home care.