Fortis Healthcare has struck a deal to sell its entire holding in Singapore-based healthcare services unit RadLink-Asia Pte Ltd and its subsidiaries to Medi-Rad Associates Ltd (Medi-Rad), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of IHH Healthcare Berhad, for S$137 million ($108.6 million), the company said on Friday.
This deal would mark another move by Fortis to disengage from its international expansion strategy, having previously sold assets in Hong Kong, Australia and Vietnam. Fortis had flipped its strategy of international expansion within one year of $665 million deal to buy assets owned by its promoters and now derives almost all revenues from India.
RadLink is engaged in the provision of healthcare services including outpatient diagnostic and molecular imaging services in Singapore.
Malvinder Singh, executive chairman, and Shivinder Singh, executive vice chairman, Fortis Healthcare, said in a joint statement, “This is in line with our strategic decision to intensify our focus on our core hospital and diagnostics business in India. Our international healthcare businesses have all done well. The significant value that we have created, is now being unlocked and will be ploughed back to strengthen our growth in India.”
J. P. Morgan and Religare Capital Markets acted as financial advisors to Fortis for this transaction.
Fortis Healthcare Ltd operates the second largest hospital chain in the country and the top diagnostics services business under SRL.
After buying some assets from its promoters in Asia Pacific it became the first Indian healthcare firms to build a strong overseas business. However, it took a u-turn from its previous strategy of going international, by selling its largest overseas healthcare assets in Vietnam, Australia and Hong Kong. The firm is now focusing on India.
It also went asset light by spinning out physical assets into a Singapore-listed entity.
For IHH Healthcare, this expands its Asian healthcare business. Formerly wholly owned by Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah, IHH was floated in the Malaysian stock exchange a couple of years ago.
Interestingly, Fortis promoters had locked themselves into a takeover battle with Khazanah for Singapore's Parkways. They had later pulled out from the battle and sold their own stake to Khazanah.
It was after this that they went about acquiring other firms in South East Asia and then lent their own public listed company Fortis to buy their privately held assets. Almost all of these assets have now been divested.