Tenet Healthcare To Create $2.6 Bln Joint Venture With United Surgical

Tenet Healthcare Corp. said on Monday it will create a joint venture with United Surgical Partners International to combine the two companies' short-stay surgery and imaging-center assets. Under the terms of the agreement, Tenet will own 50.1% of the joint venture, but will have a path to full ownership of USPI over the next five years. The equity value of the venture is about $2.6 billion, Tenet said. The healthcare-services company also said it is buying Aspen Healthcare in a separate transaction for about $215 million. Both deals are expected to close by the third quarter of 2015, Tenet said.