ALLEGHENY: Object Of Tenet-Vanguard Bidding War
Tenet Healthcare Corp. yesterday made a bid to purchase all nine of the Allegheny health system's "cash-strapped" Philadelphia-area hospitals. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Tenet's offer "could mark the start of a bidding war" as Tenet is "the second for-profit hospital firm to jump into the competition" for Allegheny's hospitals. Vanguard Health offered Allegheny $502 million for the hospitals earlier this month. A Tenet spokesperson confirmed that a bid had been made to Allegheny but wouldn't disclose the amount. "It's a bid that people will see is highly competitive, and, in a lot of respects, is better than the Vanguard bid," said the source who wished to remain anonymous.
Decision Today?
Allegheny officials received a letter of intent yesterday from Tenet, but the Inquirer reports that Vanguard "is expected to present a definitive proposal today to the Allegheny board" (Goldstein/Start, 7/31). The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Allegheny board is expected "to decide which bid to accept" at its meeting today. Tom Chakurda, spokesperson for Allegheny, said "several options" have been presented to the board. The Daily News reports that in addition to Vanguard and Tenet, other "[p]otential bidders include Penn, Temple, Jefferson and Catholic Health East" (Davies, 7/31).