Community Health Systems Makes All-Cash Offer for Tenet, Offered $5-Share Cash, $1-Share In Stock (CYH, THC)

Community Health Systems, Inc. CYH today announced that it is now offering $6.00 per share in cash to acquire all outstanding shares of Tenet Healthcare Corporation THC. The previous CHS offer was for $5.00 per share in cash and $1.00 per share in CHS common stock. The new offer was made in a letter to Tenet's Board of Directors today. Wayne T. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CHS, said, “Converting our offer to all cash underscores our commitment to completing this transaction and renders Tenet's irresponsible and inaccurate lawsuit irrelevant to our offer. We are confident that our business practices are appropriate and we will respond in detail to Tenet's claims in due course. Tenet shareholders should be outraged by the billions of dollars in shareholder value that the Tenet Board has destroyed for its own shareholders and the industry at large as a result of its reckless and self-serving allegations. We are confident that Tenet shareholders will hold the entrenched Tenet Board accountable for this scorched earth response to our acquisition proposal.”