Amazon said Thursday it had reached a deal to acquire One Medical, a network of primary care clinics, in a $3.9 billion deal, a major step in the e-commerce giant’s plans to become a player in become healthcare.
Based in San Francisco, One Medical operates a network of primary care providers offering in-office medical services and virtual services, and is one of the leading competitors to a similar but smaller service that Amazon had started offering.
Amazon will acquire One Medical for $18 a share in a cash transaction, it said in a statement. The deal requires approval from One Medical’s shareholders and regulators.
“We think healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need to be reinvented,” Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, said in the statement.
The deal is the first major acquisition under Andy Jassy, who became Amazon CEO last year when founder Jeff Bezos stepped down. Mr Jassy has told investors he would control costs, although the acquisition shows he will not shy away from strategic investments at the right price.
One Medical, a former Silicon Valley “unicorn,” a term for a start-up valued by investors at $1 billion or more, went public in 2020 for $22.07 a share. After peaking at $58.70 last year, the stock price closed at $10.18 on Wednesday.
“We look forward to innovating together and expanding access to quality healthcare services,” said Amir Dan Rubin, the CEO of One Medical, who will remain in his post after the deal closes.
In 2019, Amazon began running its own primary care and emergency care facility called Amazon Care to treat its employees, first in Washington state and then nationally. It is based on virtual sessions with caregivers and home visits, although it has expanded its physical clinics.
Amazon Care has tried to get other employers to offer the service, but has not had much success. By announcing a national expansion this year, it promoted Silicon Labs, TrueBlue and Whole Foods Market, which Amazon owns, as customers.
One Medical is much larger, with more than 8,500 employers signed up as clients. One Medical also offers memberships directly to consumers.
Amazon’s ambitions to become a healthcare player accelerated in 2018, when it spent $753 million to buy online pharmacy start-up PillPack in a bid to buy some of its $560 billion prescription drug industry. to conquer.
