Tenet withdraws from proposed $350 mln Tennessee hospital deal

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp said on Wednesday it no longer intends to sell two Memphis-area hospitals and certain related facilities to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, following a lawsuit by a U.S. regulator.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission last month filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, which has four hospitals in the Memphis area, from acquiring two more in a deal valued at $350 million.

The purchase would reduce the number of hospital systems providing general acute care in the Memphis area from four to three and give Methodist some 60% of that market, the agency had said last month.

In a regulatory filing https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/70318/000119312520326126/d94869d8k.htm, Tenet said it withdrew its sale submission on Wednesday, and is working with the FTC to dismiss the lawsuit. (Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)