Select Medical goes private in founder-led buyout
Money MovesCo-founder Robert Ortenzio, finance chief Martin Jackson, and Welsh Carson buy the hospital operator for about $3.9 billion
July 1st, 2026: Buyout closes; stock leaves the NYSENew here? Follow stories to track developments over time. Create a free account to get updates when stories you care about change.
Overview
Updated Jul 1Select Medical went public in 2001, private in 2005, and public again in 2009. On July 1, 2026, it went private a second time. Its stock stopped trading and left the New York Stock Exchange the same day.
The buyers are insiders. Co-founder Robert Ortenzio and finance chief Martin Jackson teamed with Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, the same firm that owned Select Medical last time. Public shareholders got $16.50 a share in cash, a deal worth about $3.9 billion. The company now answers to private owners.
Why it matters
Select Medical runs rehab and long-term hospitals used by hundreds of thousands of patients; those facilities now answer to private owners, not public markets.
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People Involved
Organizations Involved
A Pennsylvania-based operator of rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute-care hospitals, and outpatient clinics.
A private-equity firm focused on health care and technology that has now owned Select Medical twice.
Timeline
November 2024 July 2026
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Buyout closes; stock leaves the NYSE
Latest Deal CompletionThe merger takes effect. Select Medical's shares stop trading and the company is delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, becoming privately held.
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Law firm opens investigation into the board
LegalShareholder law firm Johnson Fistel announces an investigation into whether Select Medical's board met its duties in approving the take-private price.
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Founders and Welsh Carson agree to buy the company
Deal AnnouncementA consortium led by Robert Ortenzio, Martin Jackson, and Welsh Carson agrees to buy Select Medical at $16.50 a share. An independent committee, advised by Goldman Sachs, backed the price.
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Select Medical spins off Concentra
Corporate ActionSelect Medical completes the spin-off of Concentra, its occupational-health arm, into a separate public company. That leaves a focused hospital and rehab business.
Historical Context
3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
Select Medical's first take-private (2005–2009)
Welsh Carson led a buyout worth roughly $2.3 billion that took Select Medical private in 2005. The Ortenzio family stayed in charge. Four years later, the owners brought the company back to the public markets in a new stock offering.
The company left the stock exchange and operated under private ownership for several years.
The 2009 re-listing let Welsh Carson and the founders realize value, then keep running the business.
The 2026 deal reunites the same founders and the same private-equity firm. The last round trip ended with a return to public markets, which shapes what investors expect this time.
HCA's leveraged buyout and return (2006–2011)
A group including KKR, Bain Capital, and the founding Frist family took hospital giant HCA private in a roughly $33 billion buyout, then one of the largest ever. HCA carried heavy debt through the deal. It returned to public markets in a 2011 stock offering.
HCA operated privately with a large debt load while continuing to run its hospitals.
The 2011 IPO produced large gains for its owners and became a model for hospital buyouts.
HCA shows the insider-plus-private-equity pattern in health care: founders stay in control, debt funds the deal, and a later re-listing is the usual goal.
Dell's founder-led take-private (2013–2018)
Michael Dell and Silver Lake took Dell private in a roughly $24 billion buyout after a public fight over the price. Some shareholders argued the offer was too low. A Delaware court later found the deal had undervalued the company.
Dell went private and reshaped its business away from public scrutiny.
Dell returned to the stock market in 2018, and the appraisal ruling became a warning about insider buyout pricing.
Dell shows the legal risk when insiders buy their own company. It is the pattern the Select Medical shareholder investigations are testing.
