The health insurance marketplace GoHealth received a takeover offer of $20 per share from its two biggest shareholders, Centerbridge Partners, and NVX holdings, said the company this afternoon.
The shares of the Chicago-based online provider of Medicare plans rose by more than 13% at Friday’s closing price to $19.74.
According to a filing at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, the unsolicited offer is to purchase all of the outstanding Class A common stock.
Clinton P. Jones is the CEO of NVX and Brandon M. Cruz is its president. Both are co-founders of GoHealth and non-executive chairs of its board of directors.
Centerbridge Partners, a New York private equity firm, and NVX are two Chicago-based companies that sell and communicate. They control 61% each of the voting shares.
In a press statement, GoHealth stated that independent members of GoHealth’s board would review the proposal.
In the release, GoHealth stated that it “remains dedicated to serving Medicare beneficiaries and working with health insurance plans while generating value for stakeholders.”
After GoHealth’s stock plummeted, Vijay Kotte, the CEO at the time, replaced Jones. Cruz, who had been chief strategy officer, took on a non-executive role.
In 2001, GoHealth launched an online marketplace to sell health insurance. GoHealth then switched to Medicare plans in order to cash in on the increasing number of baby-boomers reaching retirement age. The company went public at $21 per stock in July 2020.
Stocks fell to 59 cents a share in the past year. The company reversed its stock split in November. After accounting for the stock split, shares are about 93% lower than the IPO price.
Crain’s John Pletz contributed.
