Malaysia’s IHH offers to invest Rs 650 crore in Fortis

NEW DELHI: Malaysia-based IHH Healthcare Berhard on Tuesday has made a binding offer to immediately invest `650 crore in Fortis Healthcare. According to the latter’s regulatory briefing, this amount will be part of an overall plan to invest `4,000 crore.The revised offer from the Malaysian company comes just two days ahead of a meeting of Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) board to consider recommendations by an expert advisory panel on binding offers that have been made so far. IHH had earlier made a non-binding offer to invest `4,000 crore in Fortis at `160 per share.

Manipal-TPG combine and Munjals and Burmans were the only two groups that had made binding offers out of a total of five suitors in the race. Chinese firm Fosun Health Holdings and KKR-backed Radiant Life Care had also made non-binding expression of interests in FHL.

Fortis on Tuesday stated in a regulatory filing that it has received an “unsolicited binding offer” from IHH Healthcare with a proposal to invest directly into the company. In a letter to the board of directors of FHL, IHH Healthcare Berhad MD and Group CEO Tan See Leng said the binding proposal was for an immediate primary equity infusion of `650 crore in FHL by way of a preferential issue and allotment of equity shares at `160 per share. IHH has also demanded the right to appoint two directors on the board of FHL.

Leng also noted that its non-binding offer would include investment of `3,350 crore through a subsequent preferential issue and allotment of equity shares subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence at a share price not exceeding `160 apiece.