Plans to build pan-Asian healthcare empire intact: Fortis chief

Fortis Healthcare chairman Malvinder Mohan Singh said his plan to use Singapore to build a pan-Asian healthcare empire remains unchanged though he lost a bid to take over hospital operator Parkway Holdings.

The quality of medical education and the public health care system, which produces doctors, nurses and other talent for the industry, makes the city-state an ideal hub, said Singh in an interview with the 'Straits Times' published today.

"All of these capabilities are available in Singapore, and they are available to anybody who wishes to leverage on it," said Singh, stressing: "I want to be in a position to be able to leverage on those skill sets, capabilities and talent, and to build on them."

Singh said he had learnt from the experience of the recent Parkway battle with Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and "gained understanding of the region, of the geo-political issues, how differently each country looks at the health care ... And what we need to do to succeed in the future".

Fortis had made a SGD3.80 per share or SGD3.2 billion offer to take over Parkway, operator of 16 hospitals in main Asian cities. But it conceded to a SGD3.95 per share offer by Khazanah, making a profit of SGD116.7 million from its four month investment, having taken 23.9 per cent stake in Parkway in March this year.

Looking back on the deal, Singh said: "It's not about winning or losing, it is about taking the right decision on our business ... Yes, we need to achieve our vision, but we also need to get the economics right."

Parkway was a vehicle for Fortis to achieve its objective of building a pan-Asian business, the Singapore daily cited him as saying.

Singh has applied to be a Singapore permanent resident and is house-hunting. "It's a lovely city, very easy to settle in, the people are lovely and it’s a very safe environment,” he told the Singapore daily.