Fortis sells Singapore facility to Fullerton for $83.5 mn

Leading healthcare delivery provider Fortis on Monday announced sale of its Singapore-based healthcare services facility RadLink-Asia Pte Ltd to Fullerton Healthcare group for $83.5 million (Rs.531 crore).

"The significant value we have created in our international healthcare businesses is being unlocked and will be ploughed back to strengthen our growth in India," Fortis Healthcare chairman Malvinder Singh and vice-chairman Shivinder Singh said in a joint statement released from Gurgaon.

The deal is expected to be completed by May 12.

The Singapore-based Fullerton group provides corporate healthcare solutions in the Asia-Pacific region through 130 clinics across the region with a global network of 1,000 doctors and nurses.

"The divestment of this last major international business is in line with our strategic decision to intensify our focus on our core hospital and diagnostics business in India," the statement said.

J.P. Morgan and Religare Capital Markets are financial advisors to Fortis for this transaction.

Fortis provides its healthcare services across India, Singapore, Dubai, Mauritius and Sri Lanka with 55 facilities having about 10,000 beds and 270 diagnostic centres.

The RadLink is a subsidiary of Fortis' Singapore subsidiary.

The deal at a lower price comes after Fortis failed to sell the facility to Medi-Rad Associates Ltd, a subsidiary of the Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare Berhad in September 2014 for $109 million (Rs.660 crore) after the Competition Commission of Singapore raised concerns over the acquisition process.

Fortis earlier withdrew its healthcare services from Hong Kong, Australia and Vietnam, selling its assets in the region.