US-based digital health insurance provider Oscar Health, which counts internet conglomerate Alphabet and insurance company Ping An among its backers, went public in a $1.44bn initial public offering (IPO), which provided an exit for both of its corporate backers. The offering consisted of approximately 37 million shares issued on the New York Stock Exchange and priced at $39.00 each, approximately 650,000 of which were divested by Oscar’s shareholders. The amount of shares was increased from 31 million and the price stood above the $32 to $34m range set by the company earlier. Alphabet owned 18.1% of the class A shares prior to the IPO. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Company were lead managing bookrunners for the offering while Wells Fargo Securities the managing bookrunner.
Founded in 2012, Oscar runs a health insurance platform which counts 529,000 members. The platform helps them to navigate the healthcare system while using data technology to help promote healthy personal habits and behaviour. The company’s revenue rose more than 60% on an annual basis to $1.67bn, while Its net loss also increased from $261m to $407 in 2020.
Oscar is part of the broader health space, in which there have been plenty of exits from corporate-backed businesses, as the GCV Analytics chart below illustrates over the past few years. By the end of 2020, the total number reached a peak at 94, also with a record amount of total dollar estimated ($30.45bn). Over the first two months of 2021, we have already tracked 24 such exits with an estimated total at $5.94bn.
