Malaysian government investment fund Khazanah’s attempt to snatch the management control of Asia’s leading healthcare chain Parkway from India’s Fortis Healthcare, and amalgamate it with all its Asian holdings, has turned more interesting after Apollo, Fortis’ main rival in the domestic market, promised its support. Suneeta Reddy, Executive Director (Finance) at Apollo, tells Joe C Mathew on what it means for her company. Edited excerpts:
Did Khazanah take Apollo on board before announcing its plans for synergy with Apollo?
We knew that only at the time of open offer. We saw it in the final press release.
Does that mean there was no formal discussion to have Apollo involved in Khazanah’s growth plans?
Yes. But, they had told us that they are going to do this, just before the announcement of the open offer.
How do you see their announcement? Are we expecting more Khazanah investments in Apollo?
Well, this is pure speculation and I can’t speculate on speculations. We have not put any limit on their investments in Apollo. Let’s see what happens when the relationship goes forward.
You have announced support for Khazanah’s integrated healthcare strategy. What exactly is this strategy?
Integrated Health Holding is a company Khazanah has formed and has investments in Apollo, Parkway and also in the International Medical University (IMU), Malaysia. In the education field, there is lot of synergy because they don’t offer post-graduate education. They provide undergraduate courses and we do post-graduate courses. So, there is an opportunity for synergy. Further, when you (Khazanah) have investments in so many hospitals, you will find synergy.
When you say you are willing to support Khazanah’s growth plans in the context of its open offer for majority stake in Parkway, are you indirectly taking a position against Fortis?
No. Please understand that Khazanah has had a 12 per cent stake in Apollo for five years and we have a great relationship with them. We hope to leverage the synergies that we might have in future.
