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Apollo shelves Wockhardt hospital buyout plans
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, the country’s largest hospital chain, has scrapped plans to acquire some hospitals of the Khorakiwalas-controlled Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata following differences over valuation.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, the country’s largest hospital chain, has scrapped plans to acquire some hospitals of the Khorakiwalas-controlled Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata following differences over valuation.
Apollo managing director Preetha Reddy said that the company was emotionally at an advanced stage to buy out these hospitals but could not do so since the price offered was unrealistic and may not have gone down well with the company’s investors.
"They offered us a basket of hospitals in three cities and what we feel as a fair value for our shareholders and investors didn't match with the price asked," Reddy told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
Since Apollo has strong footprints in the three cities, there would have been little synergy in a probable takeover, she said, adding "By and large, we would only do green-field hospitals as we have our own stringent quality and architecture standards.”
Apollo Hospitals had evinced interest in buying out Wockhardt Hospitals about three months ago, provided it got a majority stake. Fortis Healthcare was also in the fray to buy a stake in Wockhardt.
Wockhardt was also negotiating with several key private equity firms in the past but none of the deals came through. The PE firms had valued the company at about $250-300 million (Rs 1,250-1,500 crore).
