Spire braced for second takeover bid by Mediclinic
PRIVATE hospitals operator Spire Healthcare may face a fresh takeover attempt from its largest shareholder, sources said.
FTSE100 group Mediclinic, which already owns nearly 30 per cent of Spire, had a £1.2billion cash and shares offer rebuffed in November.
The six-month window restricting it from making another bid under UK takeover rules has now ended, freeing the South Africa-based company to try again.
While Mediclinic boss Danie Meintjes said there was ‘no active consideration’ of making a bid, City sources said Spire, currently valued at around £1billion, and its advisers were on alert after speculation of a bid intensified in recent days.
A source said a renewed push was ‘just a question of when’. The last offer was ‘a little bit shy of what the board wanted to get it to – but not by much’, the source added.
If it returns with an offer, Mediclinic will likely have to trump its previous £1.2billion bid to win over Spire.
A bid on the same terms as last year would in fact value Spire, which has 39 hospitals and 11 clinics, at £1.3billion because of Mediclinic’s rising share price.
This week, Mediclinic took a £109million write-down on its investment in Spire, whose shares have fallen 25 per cent in a year. Spire declined to comment.