Federal court ends fight over Novant $320M merger proposal

Another stamp of finality, this one from a federal court, has been given to Novant Health’s proposed $320 million merger with Lake Norman regional Medical Center and Davis Regional Psychiatric Hospital.

The injunction sought by the Federal Trade Commission had already been granted June 18, and in response Novant said it would discontinue pursuit of the deal. This week, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion erasing the June 5 opinion of U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Bell.

It also dismissed the appeal. The judge had previously opposed the injunction of the Federal Trade Commission.

The agency wanted the deal halted because it believed competition would be lessened; Novant is already in the Lake Norman area.

Novant Health bills itself as a nonprofit organization with 19 medical centers, more than 2,000 physicians and better than 850 locations in North Carolina and South Carolina. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, the provider’s 2023 statistics include 175,554 surgeries; 602,590 emergency room visits; and 6.8 million physician clinic visits.