Fortis stake sale: Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare back in race with bid validity extended to 29 May

New Delhi: Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare Berhard on Thursday said it has extended the acceptance period of its enhanced revised proposal for Fortis Healthcare to 29 May after which it shall lapse. In a letter to the board of Fortis Healthcare, IHH Healthcare said it remains strongly committed to participate in bid for Fortis and is therefore very keen to understand the next steps the board is considering in the wake of the modified Manipal offer.

“If there is indeed a new bid process that the Board is proposing to initiate, we would like to participate in such a process and request that we be kept informed of any developments regarding the same,” IHH Healthcare MD and CEO Tan See Leng said in the letter.

“We fully respect any such process that is run by the board and reiterate that we wish to engage with the Board and the shareholders of Fortis in identifying a mutually-beneficial and optimal solution,” he added. In light of the expiry of the company’s enhanced revised proposal on 15 May, 2018, it extended the acceptance period of the same until 29 May, 2018 after which it shall lapse, the letter said. The letter, however, emphasised that the enhanced revised proposal by IHH must be accepted in its entirety and cannot be accepted together or in conjunction with any other investment proposal from any third party. [caption id=“attachment_4452487” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A Fortis hospital building in New Delhi. Reuters[/caption] IHH Healthcare had increased its offer to directly invest in Fortis Healthcare at Rs 175 per share on 1 May. It had initially made a non-binding offer to invest in Fortis at Rs 160 per share. IHH had on 24 April, revised it to binding offer to immediately infuse Rs 650 crore by way of a preferential issue and allotment of equity shares at Rs 160 per share in FHL as part of an overall proposal to invest Rs 4,000 crore. Earlier this week, Manipal-TPG combine revised their offer for the cash-strapped healthcare chain with a proposal to invest in the company at Rs 180 per share, thereby increasing valuation of the company to Rs 9,403 crore. As many as five suitors were in the race for Fortis but after the companys board decided to evaluate only binding offers, Malaysias IHH Healthcare Berhad, Munjal-Burmans, Manipal-TPG and KKR-backed Radiant Life Care put in their bids. The fifth bidder, Fosun Health Holdings, an arm of Fosun International, which made a non-binding proposal to invest a total of $350 million (over Rs 2,295 crore) at a price up to Rs 156 per share, had not revised its offer.