Cone Health ends merger negotiations with Sentara; attorney general cites overall consolidation concerns

one Health said Wednesday it has ended its pursuit of being acquired by a Virginia health care system following nearly 10 months of negotiations.

Cone and Sentara Healthcare, based in Norfolk, Va., issued a joint statement in which they said they “have mutually decided not to move forward” with the planned merger that was announced in August.

The announcement to end the acquisition talks is surprising given how long the two groups had been in discussion, and that they had projected a mid-2021 completion.

However, the systems had been waiting for the completion of a state Attorney General Office’s review of the acquisition that began March 24 and was set to end on April 14, but was extended to April 28.

Cone and Sentara said they began “working in earnest on bringing our two organizations together in early 2021.”

The systems said their boards “came to the mutual agreement to end affiliation plans late last week.”

“As this work progressed, we realized that each of our communities and key stakeholders require support and commitments from our respective organizations that are better served by remaining independent.

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