Humana forms joint venture with BlackRock's HPS for nearly 150 CenterWell clinics
BlackRock will acquire Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe's stake in the clinics, valued at about $2.8 billion.
Published
Chart: HUM, one-minute prices, three sessions
Humana is forming a joint venture with funds managed by HPS Investment Partners, a BlackRock subsidiary, to manage and operate nearly 150 CenterWell Senior Primary Care clinics. The new venture replaces CenterWell's existing joint ventures with Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.
BlackRock will acquire WCAS's current equity stake in the clinics, valued at approximately $2.8 billion. The new structure removes a put option that WCAS held under the prior arrangement. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
CenterWell will have the option to begin purchasing clinics from the joint venture starting in 2028. Humana separately affirmed guidance of at least $9.00 in adjusted earnings per share for 2026.
The deal moves capital-intensive senior care clinics onto a vehicle managed by BlackRock, which bears on the balance sheet and cost-of-capital questions that have shadowed Humana's capital allocation. Dropping the WCAS put option turns a contingent liability into a cleaner structure, a stability theme that echoes Humana's October 9 reaffirmation of its Stars Ratings, when it paired that news with a reiterated earnings floor rather than raised guidance. For BlackRock, the clinics add to a run of alternative-asset placements that includes its data center infrastructure push and its bid for AES, part of a pattern of putting private capital into long-duration, cash-generating assets. The 2028 repurchase option gives Humana flexibility without a near-term capital call, a structure investors can weigh against the 2026 closing timeline.