Sunil Munjal-owned Hero Enterprise Investment and the Burmans of Dabur India have joined hands to bid for Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL), offering ₹1,250 crore.

In a statement to the stock exchanges on Thursday, the Munjals and Burmans, who already hold jointly approximately 3 per cent in FHL, sought to invest more through the preferential allotment route.

They said ₹500 crore could be invested immediately, while the balance ₹750 crore could be invested in three weeks, post diligence.

The allotment and pricing would be in accordance with SEBI guidelines for preferential shares or ₹156 per share, whichever is higher.

“Our offer is simple and does not envisage any changes to the current structure, operations and assets of the company (Fortis), and can be implemented in a fairly short period of time and will allow the company to focus on stabilising operations and on growth,” they said in the proposal sent to Fortis on Thursday.

Malaysian bidder joins fray

FHL has been receiving bids from others as well. On Tuesday, Manipal Hospital Enterprises Pvt Ltd had submitted a revised offer, under which the latter’s hospital business has been valued at ₹6,061 crore (₹116 per share). This represented an upward revision of approximately 21 per cent on the equity valuation under its previous offer. An agency report, quoting unnamed sources, said on Thursday that a similar offer was received from Malaysian investment holding company IHH Healthcare Bhd.

In its recent earnings call, FHL had said that it was left with only ₹70 crore in liquid cash as rating agencies had downgraded it further, leading to an increase in borrowing costs. Banks, too, had been trying to reduce their exposure to FHL, it said.

According to the new proposal, the proposed infusion of funds not only addresses the immediate liquidity needs of FHL, but also addresses its long-term growth requirements.

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