Fortis Healthcare shareholders approve stake sale to Malaysia's IHH

After multiple bidding and layers of scrutiny, shareholders on Tuesday approved acquisition of Fortis Healthcare by Malaysia's IHH Healthcare.

On July 13, Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Berhad outbid the Manipal-TPG combine to win the race to acquire Fortis Healthcare. According to IHH's binding offer, it will invest Rs 40 billion in the cash-strapped hospital chain via preferential allotment at Rs 170 a share.

Ninety-nine per cent shareholders of Fortis Healthcare voted in favour of the deal.

While YES Bank is the single-largest shareholder in Fortis, others include East Bridge Capital Management, York Capital Management Asia, and Jupiter Asset Management Asia.

Of 389,145,900 votes, 389,139,817 were in favour of the deal; 983 were against the acquisition by IHH Healthcare. A total of 5,100 voters abstained from voting.

Consent of shareholders was sought for issuance of 23,52,94,117 equity shares on preferential basis at a price of Rs 170 per share aggregating up to Rs 40 billion to Northern TK Venture. Of 389145900 votes, 387963241 (99.6 per cent) voted in favour of issuing preferential shares at Rs 170. Ninety-nine per cent voters also voted for increasing the authorised capital of the company.

IHH's first hospital in India was set up in Kolkata in 2002 through its joint venture with Apollo Hospital. But, the company largely remained a passive investor till 2015 when it acquired a 51 per cent stake in Continental Hospitals in Hyderabad and later 73.4 per cent stake in Global Hospitals.

TPG-Manipal was IHH's closest competitor for Fortis. IHH Healthcare won Fortis after multiple rounds of bidding and many players increasing their bids. The company held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Monday where all shareholders voted. With this, Fortis is left with only competition commission of India's clearance. The competition watchdog vets all mergers and acquisitions to ensure no player creates a monopoly.