Fortis put on notice over Parkway

Singapore regulator asked Fortis to indicate whether it wants to acquire parkway ahead of Khazanah.

Singapore securities regulator today asked Fortis Healthcare to clarify by July 30 if it would make a counter offer to Malaysian fund Khazanah’s USD 835 million offer to acquire majority stake in hospital chain,Parkway Holdings.

In a statement,Securities Industry Council (SIC) said Parkway Holdings shareholders should be given sufficient information,advice and time to enable them to reach an informed decision on the partial offer by Khazanah group entity IHHL (Integrated Healthcare Holdings Ltd).

“…the SIC on 16 June,2010 required Fortis to announce by 30 July,2010 whether or not it will be making a general offer for Parkway…,” Singapore Securities Industry Council said in a statement.

Story continues below this ad

The move is also aimed at “the need not to disturb the existing tactical balance between Integrated Healthcare and Fortis,” it added.

When contacted Fortis spokesperson declined to comment over the issue.

The development comes in the back drop of the yesterday’s announcement by Delhi-headquartered Fortis that it is keeping its options open about a counterbid for Parkway.

“At this stage,the company wishes to announce that it is keeping its options open in relation to the Khazanah partial offer and will continue to evaluate its options in the best interest of shareholders of the company,” Fortis had said in a statement yesterday.

Story continues below this ad

Fortis has a 25 per cent stake in Parkway and is facing a challenge from Khazanah group firm,IHHL for control of the healthcare chain.

IHHL had made a partial offer to increase its holdings to 51.5 per cent from the current 23 per cent by offering a partial offer to acquire 313 million shares of Parkway at SGD 3.78 per share.

Earlier,in March,Fortis had bought a 23.9 per cent stake in Parkway Holdings for about USD 685.3 million (nearly Rs 3,100 crore) from TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group).

Subsequently,the current Chairman of Fortis Healthcare,Malvinder Mohan Singh took over as the Chairman of the board of the Singapore-based firm.