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On June 30th, Didi Chuxing (02559.HK), a Hong Kong-listed company, saw its shares surge by over 80% in early trading. This followed a joint announcement yesterday from the company and Tongcheng Travel (00780.HK), stating that Tongcheng Travel, through its wholly-owned subsidiary eLong, Inc., would launch a voluntary conditional full cash takeover bid for Didi Chuxing. The announcement revealed that five major shareholders of Didi Chuxing had signed irrevocable commitments, with the shares to be offered representing approximately 53.70% of Didi Chuxings issued share capital. The announcement clarified that the acquisition was not intended to privatize Didi Chuxing. Furthermore, Didi Chuxing proposed a special cash dividend of HK$1.1745 per share, subject to the fulfillment of all conditions. Shareholders who accept the share offer will still be entitled to the special cash dividend, regardless of whether they accept the share offer.The AI application sector in Hong Kong stocks continued its strong performance, with Zhipu (02513.HK) rising more than 10%, Zhixing Technology (01274.HK) rising more than 5%, and Horizon Robotics (09660.HK) and WeRide-W (00800.HK) following suit.The Hang Seng Index fell more than 1% during the session, while the Hang Seng Tech Index narrowed its gains to 0.5%.According to Politico: The U.S. House Rules Committee passed a procedural measure Monday evening to schedule a debate in the full House session on the proposed $1.1 trillion defense bill, government funding bill, and other Republican bills.Documents show that the Iraqi National Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) offered significant discounts to long-term contract buyers of Basra crude oil for July shipment from the Gulf region.

$14.8 Billion Proposal From KKR-led Consortium Boosts Ramsay Health Care's Shares

Aria Thomas

Apr 20, 2022 10:00

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The non-binding offer price of A$88 in cash per share represents an almost 37% premium over Ramsay's Tuesday closing price of A$64.39. The offer boosted the hospital operator's shares by up to 29.8 percent to A$83.55 in early trading, the largest intraday gain in company history.


Ramsay said in a statement that it would undertake non-exclusive due diligence to the KKR-led group and that discussions were at an early stage.


The hospital operator said that it had evaluated the proposal with its advisors and requested further information from the partnership on the group's finances and deal structure.


KKR did not react quickly to a request for comment from Reuters.


If completed, the buyout would be the largest in Australia this year, almost doubling transaction activity, which fell 41.2 percent year on year in the first quarter to $17.4 billion, according to Refinitiv data.


The suggestion comes as record-low borrowing rates encourage private equity companies, superannuation funds, and pension funds to invest in healthcare and infrastructure assets.


Additionally, the transaction would be the largest private equity-backed takeover of an Australian corporation. The nation has seen a rush of spectacular takeovers in the last year, including the acquisition of Sydney Airport and Block Inc S acquisition of Afterpay, the buy-now-pay-later king.


The pandemic impacted healthcare operators such as Ramsay, with non-emergency procedures being closed, workforce shortages owing to isolation laws, and upward wage pressure impacting on profits, making the industry more inexpensive for a buyout than it was a few years ago.


CSL (OTC:CSLLY) Ltd, an Australian pharmaceutical company, announced last year that it will acquire Swiss manufacturer Vifor Pharma AG for $11.7 billion.


The transaction would provide a significant return for the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the company's largest shareholder at 18.8 percent.


Paul Ramsay founded the Foundation in 1964 with the conversion of a Sydney guest house into one of the country's first mental hospitals. In 2019, the Foundation sold approximately 11% of the firm for A$61.80 per share, much less than KKR's indicated price.


Reuters' request for comment was not immediately responded to.


According to its website, Ramsay runs hospitals and clinics in ten countries across three continents, with a network of more than 530 facilities.


It runs 72 private hospitals and day surgery centres in Australia and over 350 clinics and primary care units in six European countries.


KKR presently owns Elsan, a French healthcare company.


Earlier this year, IHH Healthcare Bhd made Ramsay and Malaysia's Sime Darby Holdings a $1.35 billion acquisition bid for their Asia joint venture. Ramsay said that it was continuing to pursue this purchase.


The hospital operator has retained UBS AG's Australia Branch and Herbert Smith Freehills as financial and legal consultants on the KKR-led consortium's bid, respectively.

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