"Highly Unusual" Circumstances End FTC Challenge To Phoebe Putney Acquisition

After running the table in the Supreme Court with a unanimous decision, which we covered, and then convincing a district court judge in Georgia to halt further consolidation of Phoebe Putney Health System ("Phoebe Putney") and Palmyra Medical Center ("Palmyra"), the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently agreed to settle its antitrust challenge of Phoebe Putney's acquisition of Palmyra without requiring divesture or any other remedial relief.

After succeeding in the courts, why did the FTC agree to walk away essentially empty handed?

Before the FTC's favorable rulings, a district court had dismissed the FTC's attempt to enjoin the acquisition, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed.  Phoebe Putney then completed its acquisition of Palmyra, and the Georgia Department of Community Health ("DCH") revoked the two existing separate licenses and granted Phoebe Putney a new, single license covering the combined hospitals.