HMA deal not the windfall some predicted

The recently announced sale of Health Management Associates isn't the shareholder windfall some forecasted, but investors might be consider themselves lucky anyway.

In the months leading up to the deal, some analysts speculated that Naples-based HMA could fetch as much as $18 a share. Instead, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems agreed to buy the 71-hospital company for $13.78 a share.

What's more, only $10.50 of that offer is in cash. The rest of the $7.6 billion offer consists of stock of the Community Health. Some observers derisively called the deal a “take-under” because of the low per-share price.

Still, some investors who accumulated shares before rumors of the sale could be looking at substantial gains if the deal goes through as expected in early 2014. HMA shares have traded as low as $6.27 in the past year and have only started climbing steeply on speculation of a sale.

Considering the lackluster results coming from HMA, shareholders might count their blessings. On the same day that HMA announced the sale to Community Health, it reported substantial declines in hospital admissions and revenues in the second quarter ending June 30.

In addition, HMA says it has received additional subpoenas from the federal government concerning its emergency room operations and relationships with physicians. The company has been under scrutiny for months related to various federal investigations.