One Medical Considers Options After Getting Takeover Interest

Michelle F. Davis, Bloomberg News

An examination room is seen at the Oscar Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. The Oscar Center runs in partnership with Mount Sinai Health Systems providing primary care services and health and wellness programs. Photographer: Kholood Eid/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- 1Life Healthcare Inc., the parent of One Medical clinics, is considering options after attracting takeover interest, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The company, which offers concierge medical care, has drawn preliminary interest from companies including CVS Health Corp., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Shares of 1Life jumped as much as 26%, the most since March 2020, a couple months after its initial public offering.

Talks with CVS are no longer active but there are other potential suitors weighing the merits of a deal for the San Francisco-based company, the people said. Considerations are at an early stage and there’s no certainty any deal will be reached, they said.

A spokesman for CVS declined to comment. Representatives for One Medical didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.

1Life rose 21% to $10 at 1:57 p.m. Tuesday in New York trading, giving the company a market value of about $1.94 billion. The stock had fallen 75% in the past year through Friday.

One Medical offers primary care through a membership-based model. Its customers are charged a subscription fee for access to a roster of physicians and annual membership grants patients 24/7 access to digital health services through its platform.

The company’s considerations come as health insurers are looking to expand their primary-care capacities.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s Optum unit has a network of more than 60,000 physicians, about half of them in primary care. Medicare-focused insurer Humana Inc. has expanded primary care clinics as well.

CVS has said it wants to make health care more convenient, personalized and affordable for consumers and last year said it planned to partner with doctors or potentially acquire primary care practices.

1Life raised $282 million including so-called greenshoe shares in an initial public offering in January 2020. It had about 736,000 members and operated 182 medical offices in 25 markets at the end of 2021, according to its annual report.

(Updates with share gain in second paragraph)