由私募股权公司GoldenTree Asset Management支持的陷入困境的营利性乡村医院连锁机构Quorum Health，计划下个月通过13亿美元债券发行，为其转型为非营利机构提供资金。
Quorum Health, a troubled for-profit chain of rural hospitals backed by private equity firm GoldenTree Asset Management, plans to finance its conversion to a nonprofit with a $1.3 billion bond sale next month.
该网络获得了交易所需的最后一项州政府批准，从而向推进债券发行又迈进了一步。Quorum在包括新墨西哥州、加利福尼亚州和俄勒冈州在内的九个州运营11家医院。
The network moved one step closer to proceeding with the debt issuance by obtaining the final state approval necessary for the transaction. Quorum operates 11 hospitals in nine states including New Mexico, California and Oregon.
此次尝试转型是Quorum最新一轮调整规模的举措。该公司于2020年走出破产，并在2024年寻求买家但未能成功。
The attempted conversion is the latest effort to rightsize Quorum, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2020 and unsuccessfully sought a buyer in 2024. The New Mexico Health Care Authority approved the change of ownership for Quorum’s Mimbres Valley Medical Center before the Nov. 24 deadline, according to a spokesperson for the agency.
该机构发言人表示，新墨西哥州医疗保健管理局在11月24日截止日期前批准了Quorum旗下Mimbres Valley Medical Center的所有权变更。Quorum发言人也证实了交易预期的时间安排。
A Quorum spokesperson confirmed the expected timing of the deal. The owners plan to use municipal bonds, underwritten by Bank of America Corp. and issued by a local Wisconsin agency, to refinance about $970 million of corporate debt.
所有者计划使用由美国银行承销、并由威斯康星州一家地方机构发行的市政债券，为约9.7亿美元的公司债务进行再融资。该交易将使总部位于田纳西州的非营利机构QKA Health Corp.成为Quorum运营子公司的最终母公司。
The deal would make QKA Health Corp., a Tennessee-based nonprofit, the ultimate parent of Quorum’s operating subsidiaries. A representative for GoldenTree did not respond to a request for comment, while BofA declined to comment.
GoldenTree的一名代表未回应置评请求，美国银行则拒绝置评。
Nonprofit status would grant Quorum exemptions from state, local and federal taxes, and could make the system eligible for supplemental Medicaid payments in some states.
非营利地位将使Quorum免缴州税、地方税和联邦税，并可能使该系统有资格在一些州获得补充性医疗补助付款。这还将使该系统能够参与联邦340B药品定价计划，并获得可抵税的慈善捐赠。
It would also allow the system to participate in the federal 340B Drug Pricing program and receive tax deductible philanthropic donations. But the conversion hinges on selling high-yield bonds in the muni market, which could be a tough task given the headwinds facing rural hospitals from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
但此次转型取决于能否在市政债券市场出售高收益债券，鉴于乡村医院正面临总统唐纳德·特朗普的《一项大而美的法案》带来的阻力，这可能是一项艰巨任务。
It’s “a challenging environment for a lot of the smaller, weaker systems” in rural areas, said Jude Scaglione, head of municipal credit research at Alvarez & Marsal Private Wealth Partners.
Alvarez & Marsal Private Wealth Partners市政信贷研究主管Jude Scaglione表示，对乡村地区“许多规模较小、实力较弱的系统”来说，这是“一个充满挑战的环境”。
Earlier this year, bankers at KeyBanc Capital Markets pulled a similar muni deal for roughly $590 million that would’ve financed the acquisition of a chain of mental health facilities from Clearview Capital, a private equity firm, citing an insufficient volume of orders.
今年早些时候，KeyBanc Capital Markets的银行家们撤下了一笔规模约5.9亿美元的类似市政债券交易，该交易原本将为从私募股权公司Clearview Capital手中收购一家精神卫生机构连锁提供融资，撤销理由是订单量不足。
And in March, two Rhode Island hospitals formerly owned by private equity backed Prospect Medical Holdings converted to a nonprofit after Centurion Foundation Inc., a charitable organization, spent four years working on a deal to take over the facilities.
今年3月，私募股权支持的Prospect Medical Holdings此前拥有的两家罗德岛医院转为非营利机构，此前慈善组织Centurion Foundation Inc.花了四年时间推动接管这些设施的协议。银行家们未能售出为Centurion接管提供支持的1.4亿美元市政债券，最终敲定了一笔1.01亿美元的私募配售债券交易。Quorum的下一个重大考验将是在市政债券市场筹资。
Bankers failed to sell $140 million of muni bonds backing Centurion’s takeover before settling on a $101 million private placement bond deal. Quorum’s next major test will be raising funds in the municipal market. Investors will be particularly “cognizant of the cash flows and how the monies are coming in, and what that payer mix is really comprised of relative to the debt load,” Scaglione added.
Scaglione补充说，投资者将特别“关注现金流、资金如何流入，以及付款方构成相对于债务负担究竟由什么组成”。
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project, an advocacy group, said that Quorum’s shift to a nonprofit “could be a step in the right direction,” but said GoldenTree and other investors should ensure that it has a more sustainable capital structure.
倡导组织私募股权利益相关者项目表示，Quorum转型为非营利机构“可能是朝着正确方向迈出的一步”，但表示GoldenTree和其他投资者应确保其拥有更可持续的资本结构。
“It would set the Quorum hospitals, their thousands of employees, and the patients and communities they serve on a more sustainable path,” they wrote in a report published Tuesday.
他们在周二发布的一份报告中写道：“这将使Quorum旗下医院、其数千名员工以及它们所服务的患者和社区走上更可持续的道路。”
The group, however, said the the deal would be a windfall for investors and highlighted the impact it would have on Quorum’s balance sheet — increasing its long-term debt by 30%, the report said.
然而，该组织表示，这笔交易对投资者来说将是一笔意外之财，并强调了它对Quorum资产负债表的影响——报告称，这将使其长期债务增加30%。
QKA Health CEO Chris Harrison declined to comment on the report, but referred to a September written response to comments submitted by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project to the Oregon Health Authority.
QKA Health首席执行官Chris Harrison拒绝就该报告置评，但提到了一份9月对私募股权利益相关者项目向俄勒冈州卫生局提交意见的书面回复。
In that response, QKA said the union-backed organization mischaracterized the transaction.
QKA在那份回复中表示，这个工会支持的组织对交易的描述失实。据QKA称，GoldenTree和其他债券持有人将承担折价损失，而股权投资者将从这笔交易中一无所获。
GoldenTree and other debt holders will take a haircut, while equity investors won’t get anything from the deal, according to QKA. The deal would result in a more sustainable capital structure, replacing Quorum’s current high-cost, short-term debt with lower cost and long-term municipal bonds, QKA said.
QKA表示，该交易将形成更可持续的资本结构，以成本更低、期限更长的市政债券取代Quorum目前高成本的短期债务。年度利息支出将从2025财年的1.36亿美元降至约1.05亿美元。
Annual interest payments will decline to about $105 million from $136 million in fiscal 2025. “The transaction is intended to strengthen, not weaken, the Oregon facilities,” QKA wrote.
QKA写道：“该交易旨在加强而非削弱俄勒冈州的设施。此次融资将改善流动性，并允许对运营、员工队伍、基础设施和临床服务进行更多再投资。”
“The financing will improve liquidity and permit greater reinvestment in operations, workforce, infrastructure and clinical services.”