Fortis Healthcare pulls out of amalgamation scheme with Fortis Malar, SRL

(Reuters) - Fortis Healthcare Ltd on Wednesday withdrew the scheme of arrangement and amalgamation with its units Fortis Malar Hospitals Ltd and SRL Ltd, citing a delay in its completion.

The scheme could not be completed even after 19 months due to reasons beyond the company's control, Fortis Healthcare said in a statement late on Wednesday. https://reut.rs/2LKI1dh

Fortis Malar runs a superspeciality hospital in Chennai while SRL operates a chain of pathology clinics.

Given the headwinds in the sector and less-than-optimum performance of the diagnostics business during the period of delay, the scheme may not result in optimum value for shareholders, Fortis added.

The cash-strapped hospitals operator, which has become the target of a bidding war, earlier this month said it would look at a new round of bids from four local and international parties and fixed June 14 as the last day for the submission.

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)