Manipal Hospitals sweetens bid for Fortis hospital unit

(Reuters) - India's Manipal Hospitals Enterprises Private Ltd on Tuesday raised its offer price to buy Fortis Healthcare Ltd's hospital business by 21 percent, in an effort to douse any opposition from Fortis minority shareholders.

The new offer values Fortis' hospital business at 60.61 billion rupees ($933.2 million), or 116 rupees per share, Manipal Hospitals said in a statement.

The deal, unveiled late last month, was expected to run into opposition from Fortis minority shareholders as investors expressed their unhappiness by sending Fortis shares down 14 percent.

Fortis Chief Executive Bhavdeep Singh had initially said the deal would be worth 150 billion rupees, according to the estimated value of both firms and the cash involved. He had not give a breakdown of the cash and equity portions of the deal.

 

The deal proposes to create a combined company, Manipal Hospitals, that would be listed on India's bourses. About 38 percent would be owned by Manipal Chief Executive Ranjan Pai, while U.S. buyout firm TPG would hold 20.7 percent.

If successful, the acquisition would create one of India's biggest healthcare providers and help resolve an uncertain outlook for Fortis, which has been under a cloud as authorities investigate whether its founders siphoned funds out of the company.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)