The deadline for a rival bid for HCA expires at midnight tonight and analysts say at this point, its unlikely anyone will compete with the current $33 billion bid. "I don't think anyone is going to jeopardize the (original) offer," Frank Morgan, a stock analyst with Jefferies & Co., told the Tennessean. In late June, HCA announced that it would be acquired [1] by founder Thomas Frist Jr. and a group of investors for $33 billion dollars, making it the largest buyout in Wall Street history. Early on, Blackstone Group [2] indicated that it may challenge the investor's bid for the hospital giant, but it seems as though they were scared away by the price tag [3]. The only other potential player for a bidding war was BC partners--there were reports that the group had plans to bid, but nothing ever came of it.

For more on the HCA buyout:
- read this report [4] from the Tennessean

PLUS: When the deal was first announced, blogger Tony Chen made some predictions about what will become of HCA. Blog [5]

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HCA's hospital building boom. Report [6]