Tenet Healthcare Nears Deal To Buy United Surgical For More Than $2.5 Bln : WSJ

(RTTNews) - Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) is nearing a deal to buy United Surgical Partners International Inc. for more than $2.5 billion including debt, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. A deal between the companies could be announced as early as Monday.

Dallas-based USPI, which is controlled by private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, operated 219 short-stay surgical facilities in 27 states as of the end of last year, 154 of them jointly owned with large health systems. The company, formed in 1998 by Welsh Carson and the late health-care entrepreneur Donald Steen, had revenue of $641 million last year.

Tenet, also based in Dallas, operates 80 hospitals and 214 outpatient centers and has a market value of $4.9 billion.