UnitedHealth Group's Optum has scrapped its plan to acquire Dallas-based Steward Health Care's physician group, Stewardship Health, The Boston Globe reported June 27.
Optum, which has almost 90,000 employed or affiliated physicians, agreed a preliminary deal in March to acquire the physician group, which comprises primary care physicians and other clinicians in eight states.
Steward and Optum did not finalize an asset purchase agreement, and Optum is no longer pursuing the acquisition, according to the Globe. It is not clear whether Steward is negotiating with other potential buyers for the physician group, which it recently described as a "highly desired asset."
Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy May 6 and is required to sell its assets, including 31 hospitals, through auctions.
Becker's has reached out to Steward and Optum and will update this story as more information becomes available.