FHL receives new offer from Manipal-TPG, share price hiked to Rs 180
Mumbai, May 14: Fortis Healthcare (FHL) on Monday said that it has received a "modified" new offer from the consortium of Manipal Health Enterprises (MHEPL) and private equity (PE) firm TPG.
As per a BSE filing, FHL said that its Board has received a "modified" new offer from Manipal and TPG with a proposal which values the company at Rs 9,403 crore at a share price of Rs 180 per share.
"We have been following the developments of the past few days after the announcement by FHL and have observed, through media reports, the negative reaction of the FHL shareholders to the decisions of the FHL Board to accept the Hero and Burman offer," Manipal Health Enterprises said in its offer letter.
"The modified new offer is not only financially beneficial for FHL and its stakeholders in the short term but also solves the larger issues facing FHL, including FHL's payment obligation for the acquisition of the relevant Indian entities from RHT and the exit required to be provided by FHL to the private equity investors in SRL."
On May 6, the consortium of MHEPL and TPG revised their offer to acquire a stake in FHL, proposing to infuse Rs 2,100 crore into the company at a share price of Rs 160 per share. That time the consortium had proposed to merge MHEPL into FHL with the latter valued at Rs 8,358 crore.
The development comes days after the FHL Board on May 10 decided to recommend the offer of the Hero and Burman family consortium for sale of its business to the shareholders for their approval later this month.
Fortis Director Brian Tempest on May 11 had said: "The Board, by a majority, decided to recommend the Hero-Burman family offer to shareholders looking at the binding bids for the point of certainty of liquidity flowing into the company."
The company said that the entire exercise for selecting the Hero and Burman consortium involved a process that witnessed "deliberation and recommendation" by an independent Expert Advisory Committee (EAC).
The EAC comprised Deepak Kapoor, former Chairman of PWC (India), and Lalit Bhasin, Chairman of the Indian Society of Law Firms, along with two financial advisors -- Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital -- while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas were the legal advisors.
The deal envisages an upfront equity infusion of Rs 800 crore at a price of Rs 167 per share through preferential allotment. The Munjal-Burman consortium has also offered a further amount of Rs 1,000 crore through preferential issue of warrants.
"There will be a shareholders' EGM on this on May 22 and I am positive that there will be support from the shareholders for the decision," he said on May 11.
Fortis' board had received offers from suitors such as Hero Enterprise Investment Office, Burman Family Office, Fosun Health Holdings, Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhad, Manipal Hospital Enterprises and Radiant Life Care for infusion of funds. The bid winners' offer was not the highest.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
