CHS Moves to Populate Tenet Board with Takeover Supporters

On Nov. 12, 2010, CHS made an unsolicited offer to buy Tenet for $6 per share, including $5 per share in cash and $1 per share in CHS common stock. CHS said at the time that the offer was a premium of 40% over Tenet’s unaffected stock price. The offer was rejected by Tenet’s board on Dec. 6, and CHS made public the details of the offer on Dec. 9.

Tenet issued a statement Friday defending its rejection of the CHS offer, and noting that the company’s board had “delivered strong growth for more than five years.”

“We believe that Community Health has nominated its slate of director candidates only to advance its goal of acquiring Tenet at an inadequate price. We are confident that the continued execution of our strategic plan will deliver significantly more value to our stockholders than Community Health’s inadequate proposal,” Tenet said in a written statement.

 “We firmly believe that Tenet’s stockholders – not Community Health – deserve to benefit from this growth. Tenet’s Board and management team will continue to act in the best interests of all its stockholders, and remain focused on executing our core business plan and capitalizing on Tenet’s leading position in healthcare services,” Tenet said.

Tenet delayed its 2011 annual meeting for six months, until Nov. 3, and its entire board is up for reelection.