Fortis shares zoom 6% on Parkway stake sale

Shares of Fortis Healthcare today rose 6.42 per cent, after the company said it will sell its entire stake in Singapore's Parkway Holdings to Malaysia's sovereign fund Khazanah.

Fortis Healthcare rose nearly 7 per cent to touch a month-high of Rs 161.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Later, the scrip was trading at Rs 159.75, up 5.20 per cent, at 1137 hrs.

Khazanah has offered to acquire full control of Parkway at SGD 3.95 per share, prompting rival Fortis Healthcare to withdraw its own offer to fully acquire the company and sell its entire stake in the hospital chain to the Malaysian fund.

Khazanah's voluntary general offer price represents a 4.5 per cent increase over its partial offer price.

Following a similar trend, Fortis' scrip was being quoted at Rs 160.70, 5.72 per cent higher, on the National Stock Exchange.

On the volume front, a total of over 63 lakh shares of the hospital firm changed hands on the two bourses.

Khazanah and Fortis have been locked in a tussle to take control of Parkway. While the Malaysian fund initially launched a $835 million partial offer for a 51.5 per cent Parkway stake at SGD 3.78 a share, Fortis countered it with a $2.3 billion offer of its own at SGD 3.8 per share to fully acquire Parkway.

Fortis owns 25.37 per cent of Parkway, while Khazanah has a 23.32 per cent stake.