Community Health Offers $3.3B for Tenet Healthcare

Community Health Systems Inc (NYSE:CYH), the largest listed U.S. hospital company, has offered to buy smaller rival Tenet Healthcare Corp (NYSE:THC) for $3.3 billion, creating the country's largest hospital chain.

Tenet's shares soared nearly 50 percent in extended trade. Including debt, the deal is valued at some $7.3 billion, Community Healthcare said in a statement announcing its unsolicited bid.

Community Healthcare is offering $5.00 a share in cash and $1.00 per share in its own common stock for Tenet, an offer that it said was a 40-percent premium over Tenet's Thursday closing price.

If it goes through, the deal would create a company with $22 billion in annual revenue, owning or operating 176 hospitals in 30 U.S. states. But Community Healthcare said in a statement that Tenet had rejected its initial advances on Dec. 6, prompting the bidder to re-submit its offer on Thursday.

Shares in Tenet soared 47 percent to $6.32 in after-hours trade, from a regular-session close of $4.29.