Hospital shareholders approve sale

NAPLES — Shareholders of Health Management Associates agreed this morning to sell the company to rival Community Health Systems for $7.6 billion.

In a joint statement, the two companies reported that 98.7% of the HMA shareholder votes were in favor of the sale. In total, the votes represented 81.7% of HMA's outstanding common shares.

The approval caps a tumultuous year during which activist investor Glenview Capital Management ousted the board of HMA, including longtime chairman William Schoen. In November, Glenview blessed the sale of HMA to Community Health, which had been negotiated by Schoen and the prior board before shareholders removed them.

Naples-based HMA operates 71 hospitals and Community Health, based in Franklin, Tenn., operates 135 hospitals. In combination, both companies will operate a total of 31,000 hospital beds.

“We are pleased that HMA stockholders have seen the significant strategic value in combining with CHS,” says Wayne Smith, chairman, president and CEO of Community Health, in a statement. “We are working now to finalize regulatory approvals, and we expect to complete this transaction quickly so that we can integrate our two companies and deliver on our plans for long-term growth and value creation.”

The deal is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month and is pending approval by regulators.