A U.S. District Court judge has issued an order to release the details of insurer Highmark's proposed acquisition of West Penn Allegheny Health System, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report.
At issue is a two-year-old lawsuit filed by WPAHS, in which it alleged UPMC and Highmark conspired together to block competition. Earlier this year, Highmark proposed to acquire WPAHS in a $475 million deal, and consequently WPAHS dropped Highmark from the lawsuit. UPMC is now the only defendant named in the lawsuit.
UPMC, which said it would sever ties with Highmark in 2013, has called for the release of the proposed acquisition, which UPMC said it would use in its defense. Although Highmark argued for the protection of those details for the sake of its "business interest," Judge Arthur Schwab ruled the "public's right to access" outweighed Highmark's argument.
Judge Schwab also noted some details of the proposed deal are already made public through various mediums. Until now, however, many details of the deal remained blotted out. Those details must be made public in a court filing by Jan. 5 at 3 p.m.
At issue is a two-year-old lawsuit filed by WPAHS, in which it alleged UPMC and Highmark conspired together to block competition. Earlier this year, Highmark proposed to acquire WPAHS in a $475 million deal, and consequently WPAHS dropped Highmark from the lawsuit. UPMC is now the only defendant named in the lawsuit.
UPMC, which said it would sever ties with Highmark in 2013, has called for the release of the proposed acquisition, which UPMC said it would use in its defense. Although Highmark argued for the protection of those details for the sake of its "business interest," Judge Arthur Schwab ruled the "public's right to access" outweighed Highmark's argument.
Judge Schwab also noted some details of the proposed deal are already made public through various mediums. Until now, however, many details of the deal remained blotted out. Those details must be made public in a court filing by Jan. 5 at 3 p.m.
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Highmark to Absorb West Penn Allegheny's $1B in Debt, Pension Obligations