A KKR-led consortium, which includes ADIA and Australian industry super fund HESTA, has withdrawn its A$20bn (€14bn) bid for Australia-based global private hospital owner Ramsay Health Care.
KKR made the indicative proposal to acquire the shares in Ramsay by way of a scheme of arrangement in April but it had run into roadblocks trying to gain access to undertake due diligence on Ramsay’s European business, Ramsay Sante.
Ramsay, which holds a 52.8% stake in Euronext-listed Ramsay Sante, said that the consortium had informed the company that it had elected to no longer seek due diligence access from Ramsay Sante.
“Ramsay Santé due diligence was required to progress the indicative proposal and the consortium has now informed Ramsay that it has withdrawn the indicative proposal.”
Ramsay said the consortium had indicated that it remained committed to an alternative offer structure which the healthcare group has referred to as “meaningfully inferior” to the consortium’s original offer.
The alternative offer worked out to be A$84.931 per Ramsay share, less dividends declared or paid after 31 January 2022 compared with the A$88 per share offer made in April.
However, the Ramsay board said it was still prepared to engage with the consortium to determine whether it could put forward an improved binding proposal that was capable of recommendation by the Ramsay board.
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