Fortis Healthcare appoints Ravi Rajagopal as chairman, shortlists 4 bidders

Fortis Healthcare on Friday said it had shortlisted four entities, the Munjal-Burman combine, Manipal-TPG consortium, Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Berhand and Radiant Life Care, to bid for the sale of its business. 

The hospital chain also announced appointment of Ravi Rajagopal as its chairman. Rajagopal who serves as a chairman of JM Financial in Singapore was nominated to the board by institutional investors and his selection was confirmed by shareholders last week.

In a regulatory filing, Fortis said it had received interest from various parties on May 31, according to the timeline specified in the fresh process for bidding. All the four selected entities had participated in previous investment process.

“We continue to believe that Manipal, together with TPG, is the best partner for Fortis, and are confident that we are able to address the immediate needs of the company, while also creating long-term value for Fortis shareholders,” Manipal Hospitals said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Fortis Healthcare initiated a fresh time-bound bidding process for its sale after terminating the offer made by the Munjal-Burman combine. 

As per the fresh criteria, the buyers have to make a minimum investment of ~15 billion into Fortis Healthcare by way of preferential allotment apart from having a plan for funding the acquisition of RHT Health Trust (RHT) and a plan for providing exit to private equity investors of diagnostic arm SRL.  Fortis Healthcare has appointed Standard Chartered Bank and Arpwood Capital  as financial advisors and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Vaish Associates as  legal advisors.