Fortis board approves sale of its hospital business to Manipal Hospitals
Fortis Healthcare will also sell 20% of its stake in the diagnostics chain SRL to Manipal Hospitals.
Fortis Healthcare Limited said on Tuesday its board had approved the sale of its hospital business to Manipal Hospitals Enterprises Private Limited. The resulting entity will be India’s largest healthcare provider in terms of revenue, according to Reuters.
Fortis Healthcare will also sell 20% of its stake in the diagnostics chain SRL to Manipal Hospitals, the company said in a statement. The holding company will have 36.6% stake in SRL.
After the deal, the larger Manipal Hospitals will be listed on the National Stock Exchange and the BSE, and Fortis Healthcare will be an investment holding company, the statement said.
Ranjan Pai, who owns Manipal Hospitals, and equity firm TPG Capital will invest Rs 3,900 crore in the resulting entity to help it buy 50.9% stake in SRL. Of this, 20% stake will come from Fortis Healthcare and the rest from other investors.
When the demerger becomes effective, shareholders of Fortis Healthcare will get 10.83 shares of Manipal Hospitals for every 100 shares they own.
The combined network will have 41 hospitals in India and four overseas, over 11,000 installed bed capacity, the statement read. It will have 4,200 doctors, 9,300 nurses and 11,400 other employees across India.
The proposed transaction is subject to approvals from shareholders, lenders and regulators.
Fortis Healthcare was one of the top losers on the BSE in early trade on Wednesday, and was down 7.4% at Rs 131.85.