Nashville, Tenn. – HCA Inc. shareholders appear likely to approve a $33 billion leveraged buyout for the hospital operator today after a lawsuit to delay the deal was settled.
The company, which operates in Denver as Health One, is the metro area’s largest hospital system. It served nearly 1 million patients in Colorado last year, offering care at facilities such as Rose Medical Center in Denver and Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree.
The vote by shareholders at the company’s headquarters in Nashville could remove the last major hurdle to the management-led takeover, one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever. The company expects to have the transaction completed by the end of the year.
“I think it’s a done deal,” said Les Funtleyder, an industry analyst for New-York based Miller Tabak & Co.
Last month, a group of shareholders sued HCA, claiming they weren’t being paid enough under the deal. They asked a Nashville judge to delay the vote so they could review nearly 1 million pages of documents from the case.
The judge refused to delay a vote on the buyout proposal, ruling the plaintiffs failed to prove the amount they would receive under the buyout is unfair.
