INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The decision came after an accepted offer got tepid response from investors.Bengaluru: India's Fortis Healthcare Ltd said on Monday it had
not decided whether to re-open bidding for itself, after an offer of funding that its board had accepted got a tepid response from
investors, prolonging a fierce takeover battle
The Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office's offer this month to invest 18 billion rupees ($267 million) in the
company did not go down well with Fortis shareholders, who voted out a director last week
Three directors resigned ahead of the vote.The cash-strapped hospitals operator has become an attractive investment target in recent months
with five local and international suitors wanting to invest in or buy it, seeking to cash in on an expected boom in India's private
healthcare market.Buyout offers from Fortis rival Manipal Health Enterprises and Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Bhd value Fortis much higher
than the Hero-Burman investment offer
But the Hero-Burman offer waived due diligence and would give Fortis quick access to funds needed to cut its large debt pile.In a letter to
Fortis's board on Monday, the Hero-Burman consortium said it understood some shareholders would prefer that the bidding process be
re-opened, and said Fortis had its consent to do so."It appears there may be indecision on the part of the company regarding the bid
process," the consortium said, adding: "We believe that this situation may have arisen largely on account of the lack of information
available to stakeholders.After the board had agreed to the Hero-Burman offer, Manipal sweetened its offer to 180 rupees a share, valuing
the company at 94.03 billion rupees - higher than the Hero-Burman offer valuing Fortis at 90 billion rupees.Malaysia's IHH, which has
Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a
