Getting your player ready...
ATLANTA — Home health provider Gentiva Health Services said Monday it plans to spend nearly $1 billion in cash to buy hospice firm Odyssey HealthCare Inc. in a move to create the nation’s largest provider of home health and hospice care.
Atlanta-based Gentiva said it will pay $27 per share for Odyssey stock, marking a 40 percent premium to the shares’ closing price Friday. Based on Odyssey’s 33.8 million shares outstanding on March 31, the deal is valued at $912.3 million.
Shares of Dallas-based Odyssey surged $7.46, or 38.7 percent, to close at $26.75 Monday.
Gentiva shares rose $3.38, or 13.1 percent, to $29.17.
