Healthscope has rejected takeover bids from both Brookfield Asset Management and the BGH-AustralianSuper consortium and will instead undertake a strategic review of its portfolio.
Last week, Healthscope attracted an AUD4.35bn (€2.74bn) unsolicited bid from Brookfield.
This came after Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board (OTTP) joined the BGH-AustralianSuper consortium, including Singapore’s GIC, in an AUD4.1bn bid for Healthscope.
After initially saying that it would look at both the bids, Healthscope’s chair Paula Dwyer said it has decided not provide due diligence access to either party.
“The Healthscope board, together with its advisers, has carefully reviewed both proposals,” said the statement.
“Based on information currently available to the company, the board believes the proposals undervalue Healthscope, having regard to various matters, including the expected.”
Healthscope said it would instead undertake a strategic review of its freehold hospital property portfolio.
The strategic review will explore the merits of a sale and leaseback transaction with a view to unlocking value for Healthscope shareholders in the near term, the company said in a statement.
”In recent years we have made, and continue to make, significant investments in our hospitals’ portfolio that are expected to deliver profitable growth and increased returns for our shareholders,” it said.
Market sources say a property carve-up would interest Canada’s Northwest REIT, which paid AUD416m for a 10.1% stake in Healthscope, is heavily invested in Australia’s healthcare sector.
Healthscope, Australia’s second-largest private healthcare group, owns 29 freehold properties that are likely to have “a market value well in excess” of their current book value of about AUD1.3bn.
