Fortis Q4 loss widens to Rs 9.32 bn on impairment charges amid bidding war Edit

Net loss for the year-ago quarter was Rs 638 million

Fortis Healthcare Ltd, which is embroiled in a takeover battle that has drawn international bidders, on Wednesday said loss for the March quarter ballooned to Rs 9.32 billion ($136.3 million) hurt by impairment charges.

Fortis, which delayed reporting results for the quarter as it completed an internal probe, said the goodwill impairment charges and write-offs were related to inter-corporate deposits and advances.

Net loss for the year-ago quarter was Rs 638 million.

Fortis detailed the findings of its internal investigation and said it was in the process of taking "suitable legal measures" against former Executive Chairman Malvinder Singh to recover payments and company assets held by him.

Fortis has become the target of a bidding war by suitors seeking to get a share of a boom in India's private healthcare market. Its board is looking at bids from parties including Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Bhd and a consortium of Manipal Health Enterprises and private equity firm TPG Capital.

Despite the significant interest, no suitor has gone all out on the offer price mainly due to regulatory investigations into allegations that Fortis' founders, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, siphoned off funds from the company. They quit as directors in February but have denied any wrongdoing.

Fortis said it will appoint an external agency to investigate its internal controls and also evaluate its organisational structure, including the delegation of powers of the board.

($1 = Rs 68.3600)

Check Here Fortis Market Price : Fortis Malar Hospitals Share Price

Fortis shortlists Munjal-Burman, TPG-Manipal, IHH, Radiant for stake sale

Fortis said it has received interest from various parties on May 31, as per the timeline specified in the fresh process for bidding

Fortis Healthcare on Friday said it has shortlisted four entities -- the Munjal-Burman combine, Manipal-TPG consortium, Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhand and Radiant Life Care to bid for the sale of its business.

In a regulatory filing, Fortis said it has received interest from various parties on May 31, as per the timeline specified in the fresh process for bidding.

It said the company's board has decided to include the following four parties -- Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office (Dabur), IHH Healthcare Berhand, Radiant Life Care, Manipal-TPG consortium in the bidding process.

Earlier this week, Fortis Healthcare initiated a fresh time-bound bidding process for its sale after terminating the offer made by the Munjal-Burman combine.

As part of the process, the Fortis board decided to invite three entities that had put in binding offers -- Munjal-Burman combine, TPG-Manipal consortium, and Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhad -- to participate in the fresh bidding process subject to certain conditions.

The three entities were given time till today to confirm adherence to the new bidding process while other interested parties were also required to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) by May 31.

As per the fresh criteria, the buyers have to make a minimum investment of Rs 1,500 crore into Fortis Healthcare by way of preferential allotment apart from having a plan for funding the acquisition of RHT Health Trust (RHT) and a plan for providing exit to private equity investors of diagnostic arm SRL.

Among others, the bids should be unconditional as well as mention about the source of funds for the transaction and elaborate on the plans for retention of current management and employees.

Last week, Fortis board was reconstituted after shareholders had voted out its director Brian Tempest, who was among the four directors whose removal was sought by two institutional investors.

Three other directors -- Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha and Tejinder Singh Shergill -- had resigned ahead of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on May 22. During the meeting, shareholders voted out Tempest.

Interestingly, these four directors were among those who had favoured the binding offer made by Munjal-Burman combine.

Following the board revamp, Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, Ravi Rajagopal and Indrajit Banerjee have joined as independent directors.