Frists to sell HCA for $21 billion

[kurth]

Frists taking HCA private in major deal
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
THE NEW YORK TIMES

HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital operator, was close to a deal on Sunday night to sell itself to a consortium of private equity investors for about $21 billion, people involved in the talks said.

The investors would also take on about $10.6 billion of HCA's debt, making the deal the largest leveraged buyout in history.

The buyout group is led by two founders of HCA, Thomas Frist Sr. and his son, Thomas Frist Jr., who are, respectively, the father and brother of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The other investors are Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Merrill Lynch's private equity arm, the people involved in the talks said.

With a value of $31.6 billion, the deal would be even larger than Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' $31.3 billion acquisition, including debt, of RJR Nabisco in 1989. HCA is planning to vote on the transaction early today and to announce a deal shortly afterward...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/278632_hca24.html

[rfranklin]

1. Payback...Dem congress introduces national health care....

and renders the investment virtually worthless.

[wakeme2008]

2. Tell the American ppl the REAL reason you want to do away with

the Estate Tax.... How many hundreds of millions will you get when your parents die.... :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[MemphisTiger]

3. Let's not forget that this company made alot of money off of

providing abortions. That doesn't play to well to his base in his bid to the 2008 election.

[saltpoint]

4. THE CAT BUTCHER cashes in.

[Sven77]

5. i hope we all learned that

Crime Doesn't Pay