MEDPARTNERS: Rival Bidder Interrupts Sale to KPC Global Care
Further muddying MedPartner's effort to sell its California holdings, MedManagement Acquisitions Corp. has filed a lawsuit to halt a planned sale to KPC Global Care Inc., the Los Angeles Times reports. Los Angeles-based MedManagement Acquisitions claims it "already had an agreement to buy the business," which provides care to 460,000 residents. However, MedPartners said the "suit lacks merit" and will be "vigorously" contested in court, adding that MedManagement failed to complete a transaction by the May 14 expiration date. MedManagement was formed in April 1998 by a group of physicians interested in purchasing the assets now being sold to KPC, including Mullikin Practice Group, Southern California Medical Corp. and Friendly Hills Healthcare Network. Birmingham-based MedPartners saw its shares fall 44 cents to close at $6.88 on the NYSE. Once the biggest physician management business in the nation, MedPartners lost its California operations to bankruptcy in March, turning management over to the state (6/23).
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