• One Chilean investor among bidders
• Preference for bids for whole business
• Hospital operators and insurers interested in Colombian assets

Second-round, binding bids for UnitedHealth’s South American healthcare provider and insurer Banmédica are due soon, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

One of the sources said binding bids were collected on 22 August. A Chilean investor is among those who have submitted bids, this source added.

Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth has been very vocal about its preference for bids encompassing the whole of Banmédica, which operates in Chile and Colombia, rather than offers for country-specific assets, according to the two sources and a third source familiar.

And yet, it is expected that UnitedHealth will receive a mix of bids for the whole business and for country-specific assets, the first two sources said.

Colombian hospital operators Clínica de Marly and Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, as well as insurers Axa Colpatria and Grupo Bolívar had expressed an interest in Banmédica’s Colombian assets, according to the first two sources.

The Colombian assets include three healthcare facilities (Clínica del Country and Clínica La Colina), health insurance provider Aliansalud EPS, and private healthcare provider Colmédica Medicina Prepagada.

Clínica de Marly said it has not placed any bid for Banmédica’s Colombian assets. Fundación Santa Fe, Axa Colpatria, and Grupo Bolívar did not respond to requests for comment.

UnitedHealth initiated a plan to sell its remaining South American operations in 2Q24. Reuters reported in June that it was considering four non-binding offers from Christus Health, Peru’s Auna, and private equity firms Patria Investments and ACON Investments for about USD 1bn. Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual is advising UnitedHealth, the report added.

Banmédica’s equity valuation, however, could be pressured by recent or planned regulatory changes in Chile and Colombia’s healthcare sectors, the three sources said.

Both Chile and Colombia’s current governments seek to increase their role in the sector, either by reducing the role of private insurers, shifting healthcare financing to public funds, ordering private insurers to repay premiums deemed excessive, or intervening in companies citing financial mismanagement and hidden debts.

At least one international investor decided not to place a bid for Banmédica because of these regulatory developments and plans, the third source said.

UnitedHealth’s South American operations recorded a loss of USD 1.2bn, of which USD 855m related to cumulative foreign currency losses, in 2024, according to financial filings. Banmédica, for its part, reported a loss of CLP 149.6bn (USD 155.4m) in the first half of 2024, compared to a profit of CLP 15.7bn in 1H25.

UnitedHealth closed its USD 2.7bn acquisition of Banmédica in January 2018.

BTG Pactual declined to comment. UnitedHealth did not respond to a request for comment.