Amazon, Hartford area companies among suitors circling Signify Health following layoffs

Amazon.com Inc. is among several companies vying in an auction for healthcare technology company Signify Health Inc., which has a dual headquarters in Norwalk, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

Signify is for sale in an auction that could value it at more than $8 billion, according to the WSJ, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Bids are due around Labor Day, the sources said.

CVS Health Corp. and UnitedHealth Group Inc., both of which have major presences in Hartford, are among the other potential bidders, the WSJ previously said.

“A deal would mark Amazon’s latest foray into the healthcare sector, and the second time in recent months it faced off against CVS,” the newspaper reported.

Signify Health notified the state Department of Labor this month that it plans to reduce its workforce by 489 positions across its footprint, which includes a location in Norwalk.

The layoffs are expected to take effect by Oct. 1.

Signify, launched in 2017, provides a platform that uses analytics, technology and healthcare provider networks to offer in-home health evaluations.