Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen may intend to become more involved in Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems' governance.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, Mr. Chen, who has a roughly 13.8 percent stake in CHS, said he intends to engage with Community Health Systems' management team regarding the company's business, operations and ongoing turnaround strategy.
The filing signals a possible change in Mr. Chen's involvement with CHS. Last October, Shanda Group, a Singapore-based investment firm owned by Mr. Chen, released a statement on its website indicating Mr. Chen's wholly owned group of companies would remain passive investors in CHS, despite being the for-profit hospital operator's largest private shareholder.
The filing comes roughly three weeks before CHS' "poison pill" expires April 1. The poison pill, or shareholders' rights agreement, was put in place last October to prevent a single entity from accumulating a potentially controlling block of CHS' common stock until the for-profit operator could explore other alternatives.