Two weeks after insisting he was "not involved in that company," Florida Gov. Rick Scott finalized a deal Wednesday to sell Solantic Inc., the Jacksonville chain of urgent care clinics he founded. Scott's sale of the company comes as he attempts to distance himself from repeated conflict-of-interest questions about whether the company he started in 2001—and hoped to develop into a national chain—would benefit from the aggressive health care changes he wants state lawmakers to approve. The sale to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe makes the New York investment firm the largest shareholder in the company. In 2007, the firm bought a 30% share in Solantic when it committed up to $100 million to the company. Two of the firm's partners, Thomas A. Scully and D. Scott Mackesy, sit on the board of directors.
