Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. is acquiring a 90 percent stake in Amil Participacoes SA, based in Rio de Janeiro, the Associated Press reports. The largest U.S. health insurer has agreed to pay about $4.9 billion in cash to complete the deal.

The Minnetonka-based health insurer has agreed to share more information with federal regulators to root out illicit Medicare billings. UnitedHealth EVP Richard Migliori said, “There are mutual interests here in doing a better job at detecting what’s probably some $80 billion-plus per year in fraudulent payments across private and public sectors." WellPoint Inc and Humana Inc are also participating in the partnership.

Rising enrollments for Medicare and Medicaid plans helped boost Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group in the second-quarter. The biggest U.S. health insurer says net income rose 5.5 percent to trump Wall Street expectations.

The largest U.S. health insurer is increasing its quarterly dividend by more than 30 percent and authorizing a new plan to buy back 110 million shares. Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group says the actions reflect solid growth across its enterprise.

Richfield-based Best Buy Co. Inc. and its founder Richard Schulze have reached an agreement that gives Schulze permission to review the company's financials and form an investment group to finalize an official takeover bid, Forbes reports. If the initial proposal is rejected, Schulze has agreed to wait until January 2013 to pursue his plan to buy the struggling electronics giant. Schulze has 60 days to present a fully financed definitive proposal to Best Buy's Board of Directors.

The Minnetonka-based health insurer brought in more than $100 billion last year. The Star Tribune reports UnitedHealth is among just 22 publicly traded companies and the first in Minnesota to reach that milestone. Read more ...

The Dow Jones industrial average is sticking a fork in Kraft Foods. Minnetonka-based insurer UnitedHealth Group will replace the lunch meat maker in the 30-stock index, the most widely known barometer of the U.S. stock market.