A sign is posted in front of a One Medical office on July 21, 2022 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Amazon on Wednesday said it had closed its $3.9 billion deal for primary care provider One Medical.
Amazon agreed last July to acquire One Medical to deepen its presence in health care, and “dramatically improve” the experience of getting medical care. Amazon has long had ambitions to expand into health care, buying online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 for $750 million, then launching its own telehealth offering, and prescription perks for Prime members.
The purchase was the first major deal announced since CEO Andy Jassy took the helm from founder Jeff Bezos in July 2021, and Jassy has indicated he sees health care as a major area of expansion. In a statement, he said health care is ripe for disruption, citing long appointment times and the complexities of primary care.
“Customers want and deserve better, and that’s what One Medical has been working and innovating on for more than a decade,” Jassy said in a statement. “Together, we believe we can make the health care experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone.”
The closing comes after a deadline passed for the Federal Trade Commission to challenge the deal. The acquisition had been undergoing an in-depth review at the FTC for the past several months. Last September, the agency sent Amazon and One Medical a so-called “second request” for more information about the deal, according to securities filings.
Amazon’s $8.5 billion deal for movie studio MGM also cleared regulatory hurdles last March. The company still faces an ongoing probe by the FTC into its Prime program, as well as its online marketplace.
FTC Chair Lina Khan is one of Amazon’s biggest critics. She made her first big splash in antitrust circles with her 2017 Yale Law Journal article, “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox.” The article, which she wrote while still a law student, argued that the popular antitrust framework focused on consumer welfare, was inadequate to assess digital giants like Amazon.