Shanghai, China-based private investment firm Shanda Asset Management Holding, owned by Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen, released a statement reiterating its role as a passive investor in Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, according to The Street.
In a statement released on the company's website, Mr. Chen said that given Shanda Asset Management Holding is currently the largest private shareholder in the for-profit hospital operator, it is important to reiterate that "[the investment firm has] no intention to influence or control [CHS] and have communicated this to the Company on various occasions. [That] position remains unchanged."
Mr. Chen's private equity firm currently holds roughly 13.8 percent of CHS's total outstanding common stock, according to the company's website.
The statement was reportedly filed in response to CHS's recent adoption of a "poison pill" to prevent a single individual or entity from buying a potentially controlling block of the company before CHS officials can fully review other options. CHS officials said in a statement released Oct. 3 it adopted the poison pill "in light of recent accumulation of a significant block of the company's stock."