IHH Healthcare can move with open offer for Fortis only after Delhi High Court's approval, says SEBI

18 Nov 2022 , 08:20 AM

IHH Healthcare, a Malaysian company, said on Thursday that the Delhi High Court’s approval is required before moving further with its blocked open offer to buy a 26.1% market share of Fortis Healthcare.

IHH Healthcare invested new capital of Rs4,000 crore in Fortis in November 2018, acquiring a 31.17% stake.

In order to move on with its blocked open offer to buy an additional 26.1% interest in Fortis, the business is awaiting approval.

A Supreme Court decision prevented the open offer, which was initially slated to start on December 18, 2018, and end on January 1, 2019, covering a total amount of Rs3,300 crore.

In September, the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi High Court to take hiring forensic auditors into consideration in order to examine transactions made by Fortis and other related transactions.

IHH added that it would make the necessary announcements on time and reiterated its commitment to its investors and the Indian healthcare industry.

IHH Healthcare announced last week that it is prepared to move forward with its stalled open offer as soon as capital markets regulator SEBI approves it.

The legal dispute between Daiichi and the former Fortis Healthcare promoters caused the IHH-Fortis deal to fall through.

Later, the Supreme Court ruled to maintain the status quo with regard to Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh’s sale of controlling interests in Fortis Healthcare to IHH Healthcare and to halt IHH’s open offer for an additional 26.1% holding in Fortis.

Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh received six months in prison in September of this year as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in a case involving the sale of Fortis shares to IHH Healthcare.

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