HCA buyout moves forward

HCA announced today that it will be acquired by founder Thomas Frist Jr. and a group of investors for $21 billion dollars, disproving earlier reports that buyout talks had unraveled. Bain Capital, Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts and Merrill Lynch make up the group of investors behind the buyout. If the deal goes through, it will be the largest buyout ever. The investment group will also have to take on over $11 billion in debt, which earlier reports cited as a possible reason why the deal might not go through. HCA currently owns and operates 182 hospitals and 94 surgery centers in the U.S.

- read this report from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

PLUS: If the deal goes through, how will this affect HCA down the road? Blogger Tony Chen speculates that in a few year HCA's new owners will sell off some hospitals and standardize operations. Blog