M Lee Pearce

An investor group including some of the billionaire Bass brothers of Texas warned American Medical International that the group may sue or attempt to take over the company if management fails to take quick action to boost the value of AMI stock. RTF Partners, which holds an 11.6% stake in the Beverly Hills-based hospital management firm, issued the warning in a document filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The possible suit would involve AMI management's legal obligation to act in the best interest of shareholders.

American Medical International, already the subject of a $1.67-billion acquisition bid from a private investor group, disclosed Wednesday that two other parties may make offers to buy the company. The Beverly Hills-based hospital management firm refused to identify the potential suitors and said it had not yet decided whether to make offers that would top IMA Acquisition Corp.'s bid. That investor group includes Chicago's Pritzker family and First Boston Corp.

American Medical International, under pressure from key shareholders to respond to a bid to buy the company, said Wednesday that it will seek other offers. The Beverly Hills hospital management firm decided to encourage others to bid before taking a position on a $24-a-share buyout offer from a group led by Dr. M. Lee Pearce, an AMI director and major shareholder. Pearce and his two partners in Shamrock Investments Acquisition Corp., a Los Angeles group that is unrelated to Roy E. Disney's Shamrock Holdings, joined forces March 23 and offered to buy AMI for $1.7 billion, nearly all in cash.

IMA Holdings Corp. said today it has reached a reduced $1.7-billion merger deal of $26.50 a share with the American Medical International Inc. hospital chain. IMA, an investment group that includes Chicago's Pritzker family and First Boston Corp., will be buying a chain that has 54 U.S. hospitals and 24 overseas. It will also assume about $1.3 billion in debt. IMA originally agreed in July to pay $1.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. is locked in a proxy fight with a shareholder who says the No. 2 U.S. hospital chain is ailing and needs new board members who will cut costs. M. Lee Pearce, a Miami physician who owns about 250,000 shares, or less than 1%, of Tenet's stock, filed a proxy challenge Aug. 21 with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging Tenet is bloated with managers and hasn't performed as well as competitors.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. on Wednesday defeated a proxy effort to oust Chief Executive Jeffrey Barbakow and two other directors as key shareholders backed management. Tenet, the No. 2 U.S. hospital chain, said shareholders at its annual meeting Wednesday voted for the company's slate, led by Barbakow, who has run Tenet for seven years. The rival slate, backed by Florida businessman and physician M. Lee Pearce, lost by what the company called an overwhelming margin.

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. of Santa Barbara said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 20% as its hospitals admitted more patients and charged health insurers higher prices. Net income rose to $154 million, or 48 cents a share, in the quarter ended Aug. 31, from profit from operations of $128 million, or 39 cents, a year ago. Revenue was little changed at $2.89 billion, compared with $2.87 billion a year earlier when Tenet owned 20 more hospitals.

Jeffrey C. Barbakow, Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s chief executive for the last decade, resigned Tuesday from the Santa Barbara-based company, which has been hard hit by government investigations of its hospitals. Trevor Fetter, Tenet's 43-year-old president, assumed Barbakow's duties. Tenet said it was looking for a permanent replacement, and Fetter is regarded as a strong candidate for the CEO job. Barbakow's departure wasn't a complete surprise.

Despite the recession, persistent volunteers continue to battle successfully for the dollars that put the zip in the cultural and social programs of Los Angeles. Attendance was down to 425 from last year's 485 at the Philharmonic Ball, chaired for the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic Committee by Carolyn DeWald on Oct. 9 at the Beverly Wilshire.

Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s long-running battle with an outspoken shareholder sank to a new low this week. After playing out behind the scenes for weeks, the feud spilled into public view when the Tenet Shareholder Committee, chaired by Dr. M. Lee Pearce, ran an ad in the Wall Street Journal. The ad called on the Department of Justice to stop an "endless cycle of scandal" at the hospital chain, which is under myriad federal investigations.