With the bidding deadline for Sahyadri Hospitals (Sahyadri Hospital Ltd) approaching on June 22, interested bidders including Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd. and Fortis Healthcare Limited (NSEI:FORTIS) are engaging with foreign lenders to raise financing of up to INR 50,000 million, people familiar with the matter said. The funds will be used to back their respective bids for the multispecialty hospital chain. The two hospital operators are in discussions with banks including DBS Group Holdings, Deutsche Bank AG, Mizuho Bank, HSBC Holdings and Barclays, the people said, asking not to be named.
Aster DM Healthcare Limited (NSEI:ASTERDM), another potential bidder, is yet to firm up financing discussions, the people said. "Fortis and Manipal are in talks with global banks to raise anywhere between INR 30,000 million and INR 50,000 million to fund the acquisition of Sahyadri Hospitals," one of the people quoted above said. Spokespersons of Manipal, Fortis, DBS, HSBC, Barclays, DB and Mizuho did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (OTPP), which owns a 98.9% stake in Sahyadri Hospitals, is selling the asset less than three years after acquiring control. Sahyadri was Ontario Teachers' first control private equity buyout in India. The Canadian pension fund, which has more than $3 billion invested in India, hired Jefferies earlier this year to run the sale process.
