By Jody Godoy

April 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is settling its case against a private equity portfolio company it says was used to buy up anesthesiology practices and raise prices in Texas, according to court documents filed on Thursday.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT 

The FTC sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners under the Biden administration in a major move by antitrust regulators to tackle private equity rollups, or purchases of many small businesses that allegedly decrease competition across an industry. Private equity firms will look closely at the terms of the settlement, which have not yet been made public.

CONTEXT

The FTC under President Donald Trump has made healthcare a priority, but at the same time has emphasized it is willing to settle on terms it finds adequate to remove any problems.

Private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which created USAP, was initially sued but settled with the FTC after winning a bid to dismiss claims against it.

BY THE NUMBERS 

The FTC said the rollup involved over a dozen anesthesiology practices, 1,000 doctors, and 750 nurses.

THE RESPONSE

The FTC said the settlement is currently confidential “to facilitate the negotiations USAP must undertake,” but that the deal would “restore a competitive market structure and will be consistent with longstanding FTC settlement best practices.” If USAP fails to fully execute the settlement, the FTC will resume its case, the agency said.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New YorkEditing by Rod Nickel)