AHN–HVHS merger completed following federal and state antitrust review

In the fall of 2025, Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Heritage Valley Health System (HVHS) announced their planned merger. AHN is a large hospital system in the Pittsburgh area owned by Highmark Health; HVHS is a smaller hospital system in the same metropolitan area that had been struggling operationally.

Reed Smith retained Slava Zayats as the lead economic expert in the case on behalf of the merging parties. Dr. Zayats led economic analyses through the initial HSR period with multiple analyses and responses to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) and the Pennsylvania AG’s questions about horizontal and vertical competitive effects from the transaction. The team also helped the parties with the FTC’s extensive Second Request.

On June 29, Highmark and the Pennsylvania’s Office of the AG agreed on a set of conditions that allowed AHN to complete its acquisition of HVHS. Following a court-approved settlement with the Pennsylvania’s Office of the AG (and no additional conditions from the FTC), the parties completed the transaction in July 2026. 

The core team supporting Dr. Zayats included Danielle Drury, Amy Jiao, Leyla Karakas, Michelle Lam, Orville Mondal, Quelly Ramos, Tetyana Shvydko, Ruhi Sohal, Justus Timmers, and Jessica Tinor.