While a number of infrastructure funds may be taking their foot off the gas for the Icon Group auction, one that is still said to be gunning hard is Morrison & Co.
DataRoom can reveal that the infrastructure fund manager has brought in another investment bank to help it gain the winning edge in the auction – JPMorgan is now offering assistance as well as the Royal Bank of Canada.
First-round bids are set to land on September 7 in the sales process for the country’s largest cancer care provider that is said to be fiercely contested by private equity firms.
Earlier, a raft of infrastructure funds were said to be gunning hard at the business but now the thinking is that a number have opted to turn their attention elsewhere.
But Morrison is said to be keen and the understanding is that it has been carrying out work on the business for some time.
Last year Morrison, with the fund it manages, Infratil, paid a bullish $735m for Quadrant Private Equity’s Qscan Radiology Clinics business.
Its interest in Icon coincides with its plan to sell the 50 per cent stake it owns in the Macarthur Wind Farm in Victoria through ICA Partners with expectations that a buyer such as ICG, Cbus, Host Plus or Palisade will pay between $800m and $900m for the interest.
Advising on the Icon sale process is Goldman Sachs and Jefferies.
Some sources believe that private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia is the contender to beat, while British private equity firm Permira, which owns Australian diagnostic imaging company
I-Med, is also taking a look.
Private equity firm EQT, advised by Morgan Stanley, is also said to be serious while buyout fund Brookfield is looking.
The party that has the most bullish outlook on Icon’s China growth prospects is expected to be the one to beat.
Icon, owned by QIC, Goldman Sachs and China’s Pagoda Investments, generates about $160m in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and the asking price is expected to be about $2bn.
It has 30 cancer care centres across Australia, delivering a mix of radiation therapy, chemotherapy and blood-disorder treatments.
It also operates through Asia and in New Zealand, successfully rolling out its growth strategy in China, where it has about six sites.
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