A week after the Malaysian government-owned Khazanah Nasional Berhad wealth fund offered to buy a majority stake in Singapore-based Parkway Holdings, the latter’s board appointed Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) as its independent financial advisor on this. Parkway runs Asia’s biggest healthcare chain.
The promoters of India’s Fortis Healthcare Ltd – the billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder - own 25.3 per cent stake in Parkway. In addition to Parkway chairman Malvinder Mohan Singh, there are three more Fortis nominees on the 12-member Parkway board.
A circular containing the advice of Morgan Stanley on the share purchase offer, as well as the recommendations of Parkway’s independent directors, would be sent to all Parkway shareholders within 14 days of the date of dispatch of the offer document, the company informed the Singapore Stock Exchange today. Last month, Parkway had announced the induction of Sandeep Laumas, a former Goldman Sachs executive, on its board as an independent director.
On May 27, Khazanah’s healthcare financing arm – Integrated Healthcare Holdings – announced plans to acquire 313 million shares of Parkway at S$3.78 (Rs 126) a share, to increase its stake in the company from 23.32 percent to 51.5 percent. The price represented a 25.2 per cent premium to the last traded price (on May 26) of S$3.02 a share and a 60.9 per cent premium over Parkway’s 12-month, volume-weighted, average price of S$2.35 a share.
Khazanah’s announcement had triggered speculation of a counter-offer from Fortis, which became the largest shareholder in Parkway after it acquired 23.9 per cent stake in it for S$959 million (Rs 3,000 crore) in May. The company increased its stake to 25.3 per cent later through open market purchase of shares.
Following Khazanah’s offer, Parkway shares surged 27 per cent, the highest in 12 years, to even cross the offer price of S$ 3.78 a share. While analysts attributed this to expectation of a possible counter-offer, at a higher price from Fortis, it has taken the sheen off the offer price.
More From This Section
Parkway shares closed at S$ 3.72 on Singapore Stock Exchange today. The company has advised its shareholders to exercise caution while dealing with shares before receiving the expert advice, as it may be against their interests.
Interestingly, disclosures to the Singapore Stock Exchange indicates that executives with Parkway has been selling some of their shares almost every day after the Khazanah offer.