IHH Healthcare to use one of its brands for Fortis, says CEO Tan See Leng

Malaysian health care major IHH Healthcare Berhad, which became the controlling shareholder of India's second-largest hospital chain Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) this week, said it would take a call on the branding of the hospital once litigation around the Fortis brand was over.

IHH’s Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tan See Leng said they would use one of the IHH brands wherever they felt it was needed. He is also a nominee on the Fortis board. Leng said: “Within the IHH umbrella we have a number of brands we can use. Some of the brands are familiar. We will use it where it makes economic sense.

"But, the priority is to fix the financials and arrange funding." Fortis pays Rs 5 million as fees annually to the former promoters to use the Fortis brand, IHH and Fortis said on Wednesday. 

The battle over the Fortis brand is now being fought at a district court in Delhi. Parkway Pantai is one of Asia's largest integrated health care groups with 29 hospitals in the region — Malaysia, Singapore, India, and China, among others.

Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, Parkway and Pantai are some of the well-known IHH brands in Asia.