United Surgical Partners International, Inc. ("USPI") was founded in February 1998 by Don Steen and the investment firm, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, to pursue the ownership and management of ambulatory surgery centers ("ASCs") in the United States; and the ownership and operation of private surgical hospitals in Europe. USPI believes that these strategies are synergetic because they both provide primarily surgical services. Bill Wilcox and several