Kaiser's Risant Health to Pour More Than $1B into Cone Health

Risant's second acquisition will receive a healthy investment, should the deal pass regulatory review.

Kaiser Permanente-backed Risant Health has revealed how much it will invest into its second acquisition, Cone Health.

The nonprofit is committing at least $1 billion to the North Carolina-based health system for facility improvements and health equity initiatives up to five years after the deal is completed, according to financial documents filed by Kaiser.

Risant will also fund up to $400 million for Cone’s transition and integration into its network and up to $300 million over a decade to support growth opportunities at Cone, the documents stated.

The definitive agreement to purchase Cone was announced in June and still requires regulatory approval.

Cone represents the second acquisition by Risant in its aim to build a value-based care network, following the completed deal for Geisinger Health. After adding its initial health system, Risant said it planned to bring four to five other systems into the fold in the next half-decade.

Risant’s commitment to Cone isn’t as sizeable as the investment it promised to allocate for Geisinger, which was more than $2 billion.

While Cone is profitable and brought in $197.6 million in net income for fiscal year 2023, Geisinger is larger in size and reported $367 million in net income last year.

The acquisition of Geisinger afforded Kaiser a one-time net asset gain of $4.6 billion in the first quarter and likely contributed to the giant reporting a $2.1 billion net gain in the second quarter.

If the acquisition of Cone is approved, Risant said the system would operate independently and maintain its brand, name, and mission, as well as its own board, CEO, and leadership team.