CHARLESTON, W.Va. --  Seven West Virginia nursing homes are changing hands after a Pennsylvania-based company bought their parent company.

Genesis Healthcare has merged with Sun Healthcare Group, according to a news release from the West Virginia Healthcare Authority, which issued a certificate of need to Genesis for the merger.

Genesis paid $273.3 million for the acquisition, according to a press release on the company's website. The sale is expected to close sometime this fall.

Sun Healthcare had owned seven nursing homes in the state, which include Dunbar Care and Rehabilitation Center, Putnam Care and Rehabilitation Center and similar centers in Glenville, New Martinsville, Parkersburg, Beckley and Salem, according to a press release from the Health Care Authority.

"On a combined basis, the two companies generated roughly $4 billion in revenue in 2011 and will have more than 420 facilities and more than 75,000 employees," William A. Mathies, Sun's chairman and CEO, said in a June press release on Sun's website before the Healthcare Authority approved the merger. "Together, the combined company will be able to use its strengths on a broader scale, which will be advantageous as the post-acute care industry continues to evolve."

Genesis CEO George V. Hager Jr. called the merger a "tremendous opportunity."