By selling its vision unit, Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health could bring in approximately $2 billion to assuage its recent loses, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Highmark oversees BCBS insurance plans in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In 2015, it lost $85 million on a revenue of $17.7 billion. The vision unit, however, held profits of $122 million from $1.5 billion revenue, according to WSJ.
Over the past few months, Highmark has been working with CapM, a merger advisory firm, to negotiate with private equity buyers and other insurers. CapM told interested buyers the vision unit is expected to bring in $1.65 billion of revenue this year, with adjusted earnings of $190 million after interest, taxes, depreciation and authorization, WSJ reported.
Highmark's vision unit, or HVHC, includes the chain Visionworks, which operates 700 stores in 42 states. HVHC also includes optical insurance Davis Vision in Latham, N.Y.