Deaconess Hospital CEO steps down from position

Deaconess Hospital chief executive Bill Gilbert has resigned his post leading Spokane’s second-largest hospital.

Gilbert has accepted a new role working on strategic initiatives for Community Health Systems Inc., the corporate owner of Deaconess.

Rod Schumacher, a CHS assistant vice president, will serve as interim CEO as the search for Gilbert’s permanent replacement begins.

Gilbert arrived at Deaconess in 2009 after the hospital was acquired by CHS in late 2008. Under his watch, CHS invested tens of millions of dollars in equipment and technology upgrades, entered into a partnership with Rockwood Clinic to form an integrated health care network and severed oversight ties with Inland Northwest Health Services, which had provided electronic medical records support for Deaconess.

The hospital is licensed for 388 beds, though it doesn’t use all of its capacity.

Icahn unlikely to file preliminary offer for Dell

According to a published report, billionaire investor Carl Icahn is unlikely to follow through on a preliminary offer to acquire Dell, becoming the second suitor to revise views of the company after reports showed a staggering decline in PC sales.

The Wall Street Journal says Icahn will now likely wait to see if shareholders approve a February deal for the company to be taken private by founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners for $24.4 billion.

The newspaper says that if the deal is rejected, Icahn may pursue a hostile takeover.

The Journal cites an unnamed person familiar with Icahn’s thinking.

The news comes after the company said in a securities filing Friday that Blackstone Group LP is withdrawing from the bidding process.

Britain’s credit downgraded amid flat economy, deficit

LONDON – The Fitch Credit ratings agency has downgraded Britain’s government bond rating one notch from the top AAA to AA+, citing a weaker economic and fiscal outlook.

Fitch said Friday that the downgrade came because the country lacked “the fiscal space to absorb further adverse economic and financial shocks” that would be consisted with a AAA rating.

The British government has been pursuing an austerity program of spending cuts and tax increases designed to reduce the nation’s hefty deficit. But the economy’s growth has been flat-lining.

Fitch estimated that the U.K. economy was not expected to reach its 2007 level of real GDP until 2014, underscoring the weakness of the recovery.

The Moody’s Investors Service, another rating agency, stripped Britain of its AAA grade in February.

Anheuser-Busch InBev settles with Justice Department

Anheuser-Busch InBev has reached a final agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice settling a dispute over its proposed $20.1 billion acquisition of Grupo Modelo.

The world’s largest brewer has been trying since June to buy the half of Grupo Modelo that it doesn’t already own. The Justice Department blocked the deal out of concern that a combined company that massive would stifle competition in the U.S.

The agreement requires the sale of Modelo’s entire U.S. business to Constellation Brands Inc. to move forward.

Anheuser-Busch said Friday that the deal includes additional commitments to divest those assets promptly.