43
Forum Health keeps mum on receipt of bids
YOUNGSTOWN — It appears the bids for the purchase of Forum Health will remain private until a proposed deal is submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for approval.
Friday was the due date for bids on part or all of Forum’s facilities.
The bids, if there were any, were solicited by and were to be received by Houlihan Lokey, an investment banking firm, which would then present them to Forum and its secured creditors, known as consent parties.
Apparently there is nothing prohibiting making the bids public, but neither is there anything requiring it, said Eric Williams, president of Ohio Nurses Association’s Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association.
Forum is a nonprofit business in which public money has been invested. It is in the best interest of the public that the bids be made public, said Williams, whose union represents 450 to 500 registered nurses at Northside Medical Center.
Forum, which employs 3,500 to 4,000 people in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, including 1,400 at Northside, filed in March for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Other major Forum facilities are Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland.
Forum Health spokesman Vince Bevacqua said the health-care system would not make the bids public.
“We are going to honor the confidentiality agreement through the evaluation phase and not offer comment until a decision has been made. The next decision deadline is Nov. 30. If any information is available, we will provide an update at that time,” he said.
While it is not known if any bids were received, Williams said Humility of Mary Health Partners personnel were seen looking over Forum properties.
HMHP did not confirm any interest in Forum. In a prepared statement, a spokeswoman said that “Humility of Mary Health Partners is prepared to meet the challenges of significant changes in health care in this community. Our goal is to ensure quality health care for communities we serve throughout northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania.”
In the meantime, if a definitive bid acceptable to Forum and its secured creditors is submitted before Nov. 30, Forum is required to enter into a so-called “stalking horse” purchase agreement with no due diligence or financing contingencies with a potential purchaser and file a motion with the court seeking approval of the stalking horse bid or any higher or better offer,” according to court records.
Basically, a stalking horse bidder, according to the Web site of Jones Day, sets a bidding financial threshold for an auction that might attract other bidders.
It is at this point, when the agreement is filed with the court, that it would become public and the state attorney general’s office, which has oversight over non-profit entities, would get involved, officials said.
alcorn@vindy.com