Fortis investors call meet, demand removal of four directors from its board

In a new twist to the Fortis hospital takeover saga, two large portfolio investors have demanded replacement of the existing board.

East Bridge Capital Master Fund and Jupiter India fund, which own over 12 per cent shares in Fortis Healthcare, served a notice on Wednesday for holding of an extraordinary general meeting to select new members.

The notice was moved a day before the Board meeting to discuss two binding and non-binding offers for investment and stake purchase in the beleaguered hospital chain.

In an exchange notification, Fortis Healthcare said it was evaluating the notice and the same would be placed before the Board in due course. 

The investors have demanded appointment of Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, Ravi Rajagopalan, and Indrajit Banerjee on the Board and have sought removal of Brian Tempest, Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha, and Lt Gen Tejinder Singh.

Chakraborty is the former CEO of State Bank of Mauritius, India operations, while identity of the two other nominees could not be ascertained.

The exact reason behind the call for removal of the existing members could not be known.though East Bridge and few other investors had opposed to the initial merger transaction with Manipal Hospitals.

Investor consultancy firm IiAS had said earlier that to evaluate the three bids, shareholders need more credence at the board-level. "All four members of the current board have been associated either with the Fortis group, Religare group, or Ranbaxy for long tenures in the past," it said.