Tenet withdraws from proposed $350 mln Tennessee hospital deal

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp said on Wednesday it no longer intends to sell two Memphis-area hospitals and certain related facilities to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, following a lawsuit by a U.S. regulator. In a regulatory filing, Tenet said it withdrew its sale submission on Wednesday, and is working with the FTC to dismiss the lawsuit.

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp said on Wednesday it no longer intends to sell two Memphis-area hospitals and certain related facilities to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, following a lawsuit by a U.S. regulator. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission last month filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, which has four hospitals in the Memphis area, from acquiring two more in a deal valued at $350 million.

The purchase would reduce the number of hospital systems providing general acute care in the Memphis area from four to three and give Methodist some 60% of that market, the agency had said last month. In a regulatory filing, Tenet said it withdrew its sale submission on Wednesday, and is working with the FTC to dismiss the lawsuit.