Tenet and its largest shareholder Glenview sign governance agreement

Tenet Healthcare Corp., and its largest shareholder, Glenview Capital Management, reached an agreement on Tenet's bylaws, settling some simmering issues that otherwise would have been raised at the hospital chain's upcoming annual shareholder meeting.

The two organizations had several disagreements on governance that emerged after New York City-based Glenview had given up its representation on Tenet's board. As part of the agreement, Tenet's board will change its bylaws to "further align" its governance with best practices, according to a news release from Dallas-based Tenet. Glenview in turn agreed to drop a proposal that would have made it easier for shareholders to propose and vote on company matters.

In the news release, Glenview CEO Larry Robbins said, "We firmly believe in the Company's value creation opportunities and we appreciate steps taken in recent months to enhance Tenet's focus on patient satisfaction, operating efficiency, incentive alignment and corporate governance."

Those issues were points of contention raised by Glenview when it announced its intention to force governance changes onto the company by shareholder vote.

Tenet's share price fell sharply at the stock market's open, but climbed over the day to be almost unchanged, closing at $24.82, up $0.05, or 0.2%.