Fortis weighs buyout of S’pore-listed business trust

MUMBAI: Fortis Healthcare Ltd, India’s second-largest private hospital chain by market value, is weighing a buyout of the Singapore-listed business trust that owned some of its clinics, said sources.

The company was considering making an offer for all the units it didn’t already own in RHT Health Trust, which had a market value of S$726 million (RM2.29 billion), according to the people.

Deliberations on the potential take-private deal were at an early stage, and Fortis Healthcare could decide not to proceed with a bid, said the people.

RHT rose as much 5.8 per cent yesterday in Singapore, the biggest intraday gain in more than a month, prompting an exchange query. Units of the trust were up four per cent before RHT requested a trading halt, pending a response to the bourse operator.

Fortis Healthcare would first need to raise cash to fund the buyout, which it planned to do by bringing in a new investor, said the people.

IHH Healthcare Bhd was among strategic bidders considering an investment in Fortis Healthcare, according to the people. They were competing with KKR & Co, TPG and Bain Capital, which had also been in talks about a possible deal with the Indian hospital operator, said the people.

Any deal would add to US$7.4 billion (RM32.63 billion) in takeovers of Singapore-listed companies over the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Taking full ownership of RHT could boost Fortis Healthcare’s profit, said the people. It currently holds 29.6 per cent of RHT, exchange filings show. Bloomberg