DaVita acquires HealthCare Partners - FT.com DaVita, a US company that runs dialysis clinics, said on Monday that it will acquire HealthCare Partners, which operates physician groups in several US states, for $4.42bn, marking the latest merger in the quickly consolidating healthcare sector. The cash-and-stock deal will give DaVita, in which Warren Buffett has a stake, a way to broaden its reach beyond its core dialysis business. "DaVita currently executes on its integrated care mission with thousands of physician partners across the country for specialised kidney care services," said Kent Thiry, DaVita's chief executive. HealthCare Partners executes on that same mission across a full and deep array of healthcare services in three geographic markets. This combination will create a unique patient- and physician-focused organisation. Healthcare partners operates in Florida, Nevada and California and oversees medical care for more than 600,000 patients. The private company generated $2.4bn in revenues last year. DaVita has been working to expand its dialysis business, as a growing number of people with diabetes are expected to need treatment for their kidneys. The US healthcare sector has been rapidly consolidating recently, as drug companies look to cope with patent expirations and other parts of the sector work to find ways of reducing medical care costs. Last week Agilent Technologies, the US medical device company, said that it would acquire Dako, a Danish cancer diagnostics group, in a $2.2bn deal that would increase its presence in the life sciences industry. AstraZeneca recently spent $1.3bn to purchase Ardea and companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Roche have been seeking new targets. DaVita's deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter of the year and the combined company will be called DaVita HealthCare Partners. Shares in DaVita fell 0.6 per cent to $80.81 in pre-market trading on Monday.