Dubai: There are four interested parties in the fray to acquire NMC Health with the deadline set to end today for submissions. One or two more potential investors could still throw in their bids in the few hours left, according to informed sources.
Among the four bids, one is from Abu Dhabi investment powerhouse Mubadala, another is from Hussain Sajwani of Damac, and a third from GKI, an Italian healthcare focused firm.
As per London Stock Exchange rules, there’s a 28-day window for official bids to be made after a listed company first announces that a bid was made,” said a senior source at a local bank. “It’s been 28 days since NMC announced that it had received bids from KKR and GKI. KKR has since said it’s no longer interested.
“But there are other parties who definitely are – NMC remains the biggest healthcare operator in the UAE; it has regional aspirations and it is profitable.
“The debts of $2 billion are what is going to be an issue; plus the lack of clarity on the exact holdings of its three principal shareholders, including that of the founder Dr. B. R. Shetty.”
LSE requirements
All takeover bids need to be formally submitted to NMC by close of business on March 9. “You never know – a new offer could still be made,” said another source.
Incidentally, NMC Health shares on London Stock Exchange are still in temporary suspension. But outside of the stock exchange, the company’s shares are being actively sought.
In recent days, news came out that a “custody” bank, which was holding NMC shares pledged to it by one of the principal shareholders, had sold some of it.
It is believed that they were sold for 12.5 pounds a share, above the 10 pounds that the shares were quoted on LSE before they were suspended.
Since December, there have been other instances of banks selling off such blocks of shares belonging to Dr. Shetty and former vice-chairman Khaleefa Butti Omair Yousif Ahmed Al Muhairi, and Saeed Mohamed Butti Mohamed Khalfan al-Qebaisi.
It is now believed that the three own less than 10 per cent of shares in NMC from the once lofty holdings of 40 per cent plus.