DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) plans to sell $300 million of mandatory convertible preferred stock and will use the proceeds to repurchase its outstanding senior notes.

Shares fell 2.1%, to $5.73 in after-hours trading. The stock has climbed fivefold this year, but is still down about 7% from a year ago.

The offering will consist of 300,000 shares. Unless converted earlier at the option of the holder or the company, the stock will convert automatically into a variable number of common shares on Oct. 1, 2012. The conversion rates, dividend rate and other terms will be determined by negotiations between the company and the underwriters.

In July, the hospital operator bought back $68 million in debt from the open market, spending $60 million in cash.

Last month, Tenet raised its 2009 earnings forecast as it reported stronger-than-expected interim results for the current quarter. The company, which has been battling falling admissions, noted better-than-expected trends in payer and patient mix, bad-debt expense and volume growth.

The hospital industry has been facing growing numbers of uninsured patients and unpaid patient bills as unemployment climbs.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com