Ramsay Health Care gets $14.8 bln bid from KKR-led consortium; shares soar - Reuters

Trading information for KKR & Co is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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• Summary
• Companies

• Ramsay receives A$88 cash per share proposal
• Proposal at a 37% premium to Ramsay's last close
• Ramsay stock up 29.8% in early trade

April 20 (Reuters) - Ramsay Health Care Ltd (RHC.AX), Australia's largest private hospital operator, said on Wednesday it received a A$20.05 billion ($14.80 billion) indicative takeover offer from a consortium led by private equity giant KKR & Co (KKR.N).

The non-binding proposal of A$88 cash per share represents a premium of nearly 37% to Ramsay's Tuesday closing price of A$64.39. The offer sent the hospital operator's shares up as much as 29.8% to A$83.55 in early trade, their biggest-ever intraday jump.

Ramsay said in a statement it would provide the KKR-led consortium with due diligence on a non-exclusive basis and talks were at a preliminary stage.

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The hospital operator said it had reviewed the proposal with its advisers and asked for further information from the consortium in relation to its funding and structure of the deal.

KKR did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

If successful, the takeover would be the biggest in Australia this year and nearly double deal activity, which at a total value of $17.4 billion, suffered a 41.2% decline in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data.

The proposal comes as record-low interest rates prompt private equity firms, superannuation and pension funds with ample liquidity to invest in healthcare and infrastructure assets.

The deal would also rank as the biggest private equity-backed buyout of an Australian company. The country has had a flurry of blockbuster takeovers in the past year, including the purchase of Sydney Airport and Block Inc's takeover of buy-now-pay-later star Afterpay. read more

The pandemic hit healthcare operators including Ramsay, with the shutdown of non-urgent surgeries, staffing shortages due to isolation regulations, and upward wage pressure weighing on earnings, making the sector relatively affordable for a buyout, compared to a few years ago.

Last year, Australian biopharmaceutical giant CSL Ltd (CSL.AX) said it would buy Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma AG (VIFN.S) for $11.7 billion. read more

The deal would represent a substantial return for the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the company's biggest shareholder with an 18.8% stake.

Started by Paul Ramsay in 1964 by converting a Sydney guest house into one of the country's first psychiatric hospitals, the Foundation sold nearly 11% of the company in 2019 for A$61.80 per share, far lower than KKR's indicative price.

The foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Ramsay operates hospitals and clinics across 10 countries in three continents, with a network of more than 530 locations, according to its website.

It has 72 private hospitals and day surgery units in Australia, while it operates clinics and primary care units in about 350 locations across six countries in Europe.

KKR currently owns French healthcare group Elsan.

Earlier this year, Ramsay and Malaysia's Sime Darby Holdings received a $1.35 billion buyout offer from IHH Healthcare Bhd (IHHH.KL) for their Asia joint venture. Ramsay said it was still pursuing this transaction.

The hospital operator has hired UBS AG's Australia Branch and Herbert Smith Freehills as financial and legal advisers, respectively, for the KKR-led consortium's proposal.

($1 = 1.3535 Australian dollars)

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Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Aditya Soni and Krishna Chandra Eluri and Rashmi Aich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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