UnitedHealth Group agrees to acquire Equian for $3.2 billion

UnitedHealth Group has reportedly agreed to acquire Equian, an Indianapolis-based health care payments firm, for about $3.2 billion from New Mountain Capital, according to the WSJ.

Why it matters: UnitedHealth Group is the parent company of the largest U.S. health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, and is on an acquisition spree. "It is likely that UnitedHealth would merge Equian into its Optum health-services arm, a rapidly growing part of its business that caters to insurers, hospitals and other health-care companies. Equian would add to its array of offerings and help Optum branch out beyond health care, since Equian has other types of insurers as clients as well," writes the Wall Street Journal's Cara Lombardo.