Cerberus sells control of Steward Health Care back to company

Cerberus Capital Management has agreed to sell control of community hospital group Steward Health Care back to the company, as first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by Axios.

Why it matters: This would make Steward one of the country's largest physician-owned and operated companies. It also marks the end of a 10-year ownership period for Cerberus, which was most recently marked by threats to shutter a Pennsylvania hospital in March, despite the pandemic, if the facility didn't receive state bailout funds.

• The bottom line: Dallas-based Steward has 37 hospitals across nine states, employing more than 42,000 people, plus a network of 42 skilled nursing facilities and over 25 urgent care centers.