(Bloomberg) -- UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest US health insurer, said it will take a charge of about $7 billion for the sale of its operations in Brazil to a private investor.

UnitedHealth agreed to sell the unit to Brazilian entrepreneur Jose Seripieri Filho, the company said Friday in an email. The deal’s size wasn’t specified, but another bidder, Nelson Tanure, valued the unit at 2.5 billion to 3 billion reais ($509 million to $610 million), Bloomberg reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter. 

The US insurer entered the Brazilian market more than a decade ago with the $4.7 billion purchase of Amil Participacoes SA, then the country’s biggest managed care company. Since then, Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth has intensified its focus on the US, and began trying to sell its Brazilian assets in 2022 due to growing losses in individual health plans.

The shares rose less than 1% at the New York market open. They lost 1% this year through Thursday’s close. 

UnitedHealth reported $8.7 billion in revenue from its international business in 2022, about 3% of its total. The company had about 5.5 million members in its global segment as of Sept. 30 of this year.

UnitedHealth expects the Brazil deal to close in the first half of 2024, according to a filing on Friday. Most of the charge is non-cash and due to the cumulative impact of currency exchanges, and the company confirmed its 2024 adjusted earnings outlook. 

The sale includes Amil Insurance, Amil Integrated Care, Amil Dental and Americas Hospitals in Brazil, UnitedHealth said in the email. The agreement “will ensure ongoing success, working with a buyer who has the local knowledge and experience to continue the positive momentum of the business,” the company said. 

Valor Economico reported last week that UnitedHealth’s board had approved a sale to Seripieri Filho for an undisclosed amount. Bloomberg reported earlier that Seripieri Filho had bid for the business, as did Tanure and private equity firm Bain Capital LP.

--With assistance from John Tozzi.

(Updates with company comment in second and penultimate paragraphs.)

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