Fortis selling stake in Vietnam subsidiary

Will sell stake to Viva Holdings Vietnam (Pte) Ltd for a total consideration of $80 mn

Fortis Healthcare Ltd has entered into an agreement to sell its entire stake in its Vietnam subsidiary, Fortis Hoan My Medical Corp, to Viva Holdings Vietnam (Pte) Ltd for a total consideration of $80 million (around Rs 470 crore). Viva Holdings Vietnam is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Chandler Holdings Ltd.

“The offer price provides a premium to the purchase price paid by Fortis for the acquisition of Fortis Hoan,” Fortis Healthcare said. The transaction is earnings per share accretive to Fortis Healthcare and after this divestment, the net debt-to-equity ratio of the company is expected to go down to less than 0.6, the statement said.

Last month itself, Fortis completed the sale of its Australian subsidiary Dental Corp to British medical services group Bupa Plc for around Rs 1,452 crore.

The country’s largest hospital chain, owned by billionaire brothers Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, invested about $665 million in September 2011 for its foray into international markets. The proceeds from such divestments are expected to help reduce the debt of around Rs 7,000 crore on the company and recover its entire investment. Apart from India, the company is expected to retain its presence mainly in four international markets--Singapore, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Dubai--industry experts say.