Tiger Global-backed Bright Health raises $924 mln in U.S. IPO

Tiger Global-backed Bright Health raises $924 mln in U.S. IPO

• By Staff Writer

Tiger Global-backed Bright Health raises $924 mln in U.S. IPO

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - Bright Health Group, a health insurance start-up backed by Tiger Global and Blackstone Group Inc BX.N, said on Wednesday it sold shares in its initial public offering at a price lower than its target range to raise $924.3 million.

Bright Health priced 51.3 million shares at $18 per share and had issued a targeted price range of $20 to 23. The IPO values the company at $11.23 billion.

The IPO comes at a time more people seek remote healthcare during the pandemic, supercharging the telemedicine market and prompting companies to expand their scale.

Health insurance startup Oscar Health Inc OSCR.N, backed by Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O, was valued at over $7 billion in its market debut in March, while Clover Health Investments Corp CLOV.O last year agreed to go public through a merger with a blank-check firm backed by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

Minneapolis-based Bright Health runs two businesses, NeueHealth and Bright HealthCare, through which it offers virtual and in-person clinical care to patients through affiliated primary care clinics. It also sells Medicare and commercial health insurance across 14 states in the U.S.

Bright Health, co-founded in 2015 by UnitedHealth Group Inc's UNH.N former chief executive officer Bob Sheehy, generated over $1.2 billion in revenue in 2020.

The company's net losses nearly doubled to $248 million in 2020 from $125 million a year earlier and have been reporting losses since it was founded.

J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays are the lead underwriters for the offering.

The company plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "BHG" on Thursday.