Kindred Up 6%; Analyst Sees 'Cleaner Path' For Gentiva Bid

Kindred Healthcare Inc.

gained nearly 6 percent Monday on speculation that its hopes to acquire Gentiva Health Services Inc.

are getting more realistic. Gentiva has two offers of $17.25 on the table: one from Kindred and one from an unnamed bidder widely believed to be Formation Capital, an investment management firm that owns Genesis HealthCare. Genesis agreed Monday to merge with Skilled Healthcare

in a stock swap. Susquehanna analyst Chris Rigg said it's unlikely that Formation Capital can pursue two major and complex deals at the same time. Rigg said the Genesis deal "creates a cleaner path" for Kindred's bid on Gentiva. Gentiva fell 2.5 percent Tuesday to 18.35 a share, while Kindred traded up 5.6 percent to $21.31.