Fortis appoints Arpwood Capital as second financial adviser to help bid process

Fortis Healthcare has appointed investment banking firm Arpwood Capital as its second financial adviser on bids that have come in for the company.

Arpwood will provide its independent opinion on current or future offers received from bidders for a potential significant equity investment, acquisition or restructuring of Fortis' assets, the company told stock exchanges late Friday.

Arpwood will also advise if the process put in place for dealing with these offers is appropriate, Fortis added.

On April 28, the Fortis board instructed the company's management to appoint a second independent financial advisor. Currently, it is advised by Standard Chartered Bank with respect to the bids. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is acting as legal advisor for the company.

Fortis board is scheduled to meet on May 10 to take a decision on the binding bids for the company as recommended by the two-member expert advisory committee (EAC) that includes Deepak Kapoor and Lalit Bhasin.