Value of Fortis-Manipal merged entity to be Rs 15K cr: Fortis CEO

The value of the entity resulting from the merger of Fortis Healthcare and Manipal Hospital Enterprises will be Rs 15,000 crore, a top Fortis official said today.

The merger is expected to be completed in 10-12 months, he added.

"When you look at value of Fortis, when you look at value of Manipal and when you look at money being infused that is Rs 3,900 crore, that adds up to Rs 15,000 crore," Fortis Healthcare CEO Bhavdeep Singh said in a conference call today.

The value of the resulting entity thus will be 15,000 crore, he added.

The company's board had yesterday approved the demerger of Fortis hospitals business, which will be acquired by Manipal Hospitals and TPG Capital, along with the sale of 20 per cent stake in diagnostics chain SRL Ltd.

Ranjan Pai and TPG will invest Rs 3,900 crore into Manipal Hospitals. The funds will be utilised for financing the acquisition of 50.9 per cent stake in SRL (20.0 per cent from FHL and 30.9 per cent from other investors for which discussions are currently underway), Fortis Healthcare had said yesterday in a statement.

In addition, the investment will support the proposed acquisition of hospital assets owned by RHT Health Trust and the growth of the hospitals and the diagnostics businesses, it added.

"The merger will take time. The merging of Fortis into Manipal will take between 10 to 12 months," Singh said.

When asked about the investigations by Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in the company over alleged financial irregularities in the company involving its promoters, Singh brothers, Bhavdeep Singh said: "We are cooperating with the ongoing SFIO investigations."