The California attorney general’s office on Wednesday denied the proposed $55 million sale of Anaheim Memorial Medical Center to Prime Healthcare Services Inc. of Victorville.
In a letter to Prime’s attorney, Chief Deputy Attorney General James Humes said that his office wasn’t able to conclude that certain factors under the state’s Corporations Code were satisfied.
The letter noted certain issues such as “that the sale is fair to Anaheim, reflects fair market value, contains a market value that has not been influenced by the parties and is consistent with the public interest.”
He also said some potential other bidders showed a possible willingness to pay substantially more for Anaheim Memorial than what was offered by Prime, but “these bidders either failed to fully develop or withdrew a bid, or their bid was rejected by Anaheim, for reasons that are uncertain or disputed.
“In addition, the evidence suggests that potential bidders may have been treated differently and did not have equal access to relevant information,” Humes said.
Prime, whose local holdings include West Anaheim Medical Center, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and Huntington Beach Hospital, first proposed to buy Anaheim Memorial in February.
Memorial Health Services, which owned Anaheim Memorial since 1995, put it on the sale block last summer for several reasons, including what was expected to be a hefty bill for complying with the state’s hospital earthquake safety law.
