Gentiva Health offered to scoop up Odyssey Healthcare for nearly $1 billion in cash Monday, positioning itself to become the country's biggest provider of home health and hospice care and sparking speculation of further consolidations in the home care industry, according to analysts.

Gentiva is offering around $27 per share for Odyssey, around a 38 percent premium over the Dallas-based company's closing price Friday.

"If Gentiva completes the acquisition of Odyssey, the company will solidify its place as the largest provider of combined home health and hospice care," analysts at Ibisworld said in a statement.

Ibisworld estimates that the deal will bring Gentiva around $1.8 billion in sales in 2010 with an average daily patient census of 14,000 and operations in over 30 states.

Gentiva expects the transaction to close in the third quarter of this year.

"We are delighted to welcome the Odyssey employees to the Gentiva family," Gentiva's CEO and President Tony Strange said in a statement. "The combination of the two companies clearly positions us as a leader in both home health and hospice care in the United States."

Gentiva aims to raise about $1.1 billion to finance the deal as well as to refinance existing debt, the Atlanta, Ga.-based company said. Fund-raising will be handled by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC, General Electric Capital Corporation, and SunTrust Bank and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., according to Gentiva.

Odyssey HealthCare Inc.'s stock skyrocketed nearly 38 percent to close at $26.70 a share, while Gentiva Health Services Inc.'s stocks rose 13 percent to end at $29.17 per share Monday.

The purchase also lifted the stocks of Gentiva's rivals, as industry analysts predict more consolidations because of falling federal reimbursements taking a bite out of home care revenues.

Rival home care business Almost Family Inc. rose nearly 6 percent, up to $37.10 a share, and LHC Group picked up close to 2 percent, closing at $30.85. And Gentiva wasn't alone in making purchases Monday: LHC Group, which runs home care and rehabilitation centers, picked up the Idaho Home Health and Hospice home-nursing business for an undisclosed sum.

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