Fortis Healthcare: Plans acquisitions in Asia

Malvinder Singh, one of the two billionaire brothers who owns the Indian company has stated that the group now plans to focus of acquisitions as they have $800-$900 million in cash and a well-established line of credit. He says, "There's also family money, if need be. Money has never been an issue. It depends on the opportunity,"

Singh declined to comment on specific targets or give a time frame for acquisitions but said that Singapore remains the pan-Asian hub for the sector. He said, "We have regrouped, discussed and decided what we need to do. There are a bunch of opportunities we have already identified which we will evaluate and engage with. We will look at partnerships, we look at alliances, we look at acquisitions. We will do all of that. We are here to stay, Singapore will remain the base,"

Singh has moved to Singapore from New Delhi as chairman of Parkway.

Healthcare firms based in Singapore are Raffles Medical, Pacific Health and Singapore Medical. Some prominent companies regionally in the sector include Thailand's top listed hospital operator Bangkok Dusit Medical Services and second-ranked Bumrungrad Hospital.

Singh says "For the next five years, Asia is the story. Emerging markets, significant demand-supply gaps in terms of healthcare, opportunity for growth and its got some strong institutions which we can build upon and leverage and create a good business."

Earlier this week, Fortis agreed to sell its about 25 per cent stake in Parkway bought just four months ago after Malaysian state investor Khazanah made a general offer of S$3.95 per share in response to Fortis' bid of S$3.80. Fortis said it made a profit of S$116.7 million ($85 million) on the deal.

Singh said, "At S$3.80 we were clear buyers, at S$3.95 we were sellers. The issue to me was what does that (price) mean for a Fortis shareholder? What does it mean in terms of return on investment, what does it mean in terms of opportunity cost for other opportunities?"