Munjal-burmans, IHH revise Fortis bids, add fresh terms

NEW DELHI: At least two bidders, IHH Healthcare Bhd and a group led by businessman Sunil Munjal, sweetened their offers for the assets of troubled Fortis Healthcare Ltd ahead of the Tuesday deadline for submitting binding offers.

In its revised offer, IHH Healthcare said that its proposal of immediate equity infusion of ₹650 crore will now be at ₹175 per share, higher than the ₹160 apiece proposed earlier. The subsequent equity infusion of ₹3,350 crore will be at a share price not exceeding ₹175, the company said in a statement.

IHH Healthcare, however, insisted that the company be allowed to inspect the books and assets of the hospital operator after an initial equity infusion.

Inspection of assets, or due diligence, has been a matter of concern for bidders of Fortis because the company’s books have not been audited since 2016, some of its land assets are under litigation and the Serious Fraud I nvestigation Office (SFIO) has been ordered to probe an alleged fraud related to diversion of funds. Group led by Sunil Munjal: Offers to infuse

directly into Fortis Healthcare Proposes an

process for SRL Laboratories

IHH Healthcare:

Offers immediate equity infusion of at per share Subsequent equity infusion of

at up to per share

The combine of Munjal and the Burman family have offered to infuse ₹1,800 crore directly into Fortis as part of their revised offer. That compares with the ₹1,500 crore they proposed to invest earlier.

They also sought three seats on the board instead of two and added a new condition that an independent sale process should take place for SRL Laboratories, a unit of Fortis, and its proceeds be used to buy assets of RHT Holdings, a trust which holds Fortis’s real estate assets.

Munjal and the Burmans did not seek an opportunity to do due diligence but said that if the right is granted to others, they would also want it.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty has started to affect Fortis’s hospital operations, with some doctors quitting their jobs.

“Equipment, especially in radiology, needed upgradation. There was a greater need for looking into these areas,” said Dr Vijay Kher, former head of the department of nephrology. He has left Fortis Escorts Heart Institute and joined Medanta Medicity.

“I started feeling that my services were not utilized to the best of capabilities,” Dr Vijay Kher said.

Dr Rajesh Kumar Ahlawat, director of urology and renal transplantation, has also quit Fortis Hospitals.

Fortis Healthcare said that the company’s retention level remains among the best in the country.

“While attrition is a part of the normal course of any business, our retention levels remain among the best in the industry,” Fortis Healthcare said.