The Manor Care/Carlyle buyout has been completed.

Just when it seemed Carlyle Group’s attempt to buy Manor Care would stretch into the new year, the private-equity company announced Friday that it closed its $6.3 billion purchase of the nation’s largest nursing home chain.

The hard-fought buyout was completed even with a credit market in turmoil, a tenacious and influential labor union opposing the deal, and concerns on Capitol Hill over private-equity firms purchasing nursing homes. To overcome worries about the deal’s impact on quality of care, Carlyle offered repeated assurances that it would provide adequate staffing and resources to the chain.

Under the deal, Manor Care, which operates 500 nursing and assisted living facilities in 32 states, will be added to a wide-ranging Carlyle portfolio that includes Hertz rental cars and Dunkin’ Donuts. In return, shareholders of Manor Care will receive $67 in cash for each share of stock.

Even down to the wire, the deal faced opposition. In West Virginia, where Manor Care operates some homes, health authorities imposed a stay that was delaying the transaction, but the order was lifted on Thursday. That same day, the Service International Employees Union got a circuit judge in Ingham County, Mich., to issue a temporary restraining order that would stall the transfer of licenses of the state’s Manor Care facilities to Carlyle. Less than 24 hours later, Manor Care’s lawyers got that temporary restraining order overturned and the licenses transferred — the last piece of the puzzle needed to complete the deal.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that many people from different parts of the country, the world, can come together and share news, gossip, information. Specific to this, we’re in contact with many nurses and aides who work for the various Manor Care managed facilities all over the US; we will be watching and sharing pertinent info as it becomes known. Staff cuts, supply cuts and the like will be reported on. From what I can see, we have contacts in every state a Manor Care facility is located in, so we have good representation.