Fortis to consider all binding bids till 1 May; Manipal gets extra leeway

The hospital chain has thus decided to give more time to potential investors to send binding proposals, the company informed exchanges. The frontrunner — Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd, backed by TPG — will be allowed to revise the offer till 6 May.

The EAC will consider evaluating all binding bids (whether the current / improvised / modified or new) received by the company till 12 noon on 1 May, it said.

"In line with the obligations towards Manipal and TPG consortium, if any new or modified binding bids are received anytime till 12.00 Noon on May 01, 2018; Manipal and TPG consortium have the ability to revise their offer till May 6," it added.

The company’s board, in its meeting on Friday, also cleared the appointment of three independent directors.

The board could not discuss the proposed bids on Thursday, as scheduled earlier, due to the resignation of Renuka Ramnath, a member of the EAC. She resigned a day before the committee was to table its report of recommendations to the board.

The EAC chaired by Deepak Kapoor, former chairman & CEO, PwC India and Lalit Bhasin, president, Society of Indian Law Firms & Managing Partner, Bhasin & Co will now assess the binding bids and give their recommendations to the Fortis board by 1 May.

The winning bid, once approved by the board, will need to be cleared by shareholders in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held ?on 22 May.

The Fortis board, in its meeting that lasted till late Friday night, approved the appointment of Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, Ravi Rajagopal and Indrajit Banerjee as additional directors (independent category) with immediate effect.

The board has also decided to hold an extraordinary general meeting of the company on May 22 at Air Force Auditorium, Delhi, at 10 am to consider the resolutions proposed by National Westminster Bank Plc as Trustee of Jupiter India Fund, East Bridge Capital Master Fund Ltd and East Bridge Capital Master Fund I Ltd, its shareholders, Fortis Healthcare said.

These shareholders — apart from appointment of three directors — have sought removal of Brian Tempest, Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha and Lt Gen Tejinder Singh Shergill from the board.

The board also discussed the way forward for infusion of funds into the hospital operator. Additionally, the board instructed the management to appoint a second independent financial advisor to assist and advise the board with respect to the bids.

The board so far has taken the services of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as legal advisor and Standard Chartered Bank as the financial advisor.

The company has already received binding offers from four entities — KKR-backed Radiant Life Care, Malaysian major IHH Healthcare, Manipal-TPG consortium and Munjal and Burman family offices.

Manipal Health Enterprises again revised its offer for Fortis Healthcare last week, raising the value of the hospitals business to Rs 6,322 crore (See: IHH, KKR submit binding bids for Fortis, Manipal revises bid).