Ramsay Health Care is understood to be still exploring opportunities for its stake in French hospital operator Ramsay Sante, say sources.
Ramsay has Rothschild & Co working for it in Europe to find potential buyers for its 52 per cent stake of the business.
It is understood Ramsay has hired a consultant to conduct due diligence on the business that can be presented to potential suitors.
Ramsay Sante’s board is understood to have been reluctant to open a data room for interested buyers, which was why suitor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts put forward an offer for the country’s largest private hospital operator that excluded the Ramsay Sante business.
The proposal involved handing back the share in Ramsay Sante to Ramsay’s shareholders. Fresenius Helios was at one stage running the ruler over Ramsay Sante.
KKR initially offered $88 per share for Ramsay in April, which placed a value on the company of about $20bn. But in August it said it had withdrawn its offer.
The KKR consortium that included super fund backers came up with an alternative offer that Ramsay rejected where shareholders would have received $78.20 per share and about 0.22 Ramsay Sante shares.
Goldman Sachs and UBS are working as defence advisers for Ramsay, while KKR has been advised by Barrenjoey and Credit Suisse.
Ramsay’s largest shareholder, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, which owns 19 per cent, has been working with Adara Partners.
Shares in Ramsay are now at $57.78, below the value they were trading at before KKR came forward with its initial proposal as healthcare providers suffer from tough economic conditions and staff shortages.
Ramsay is understood to be considering further asset sales to support the share price.
It is also considering the sale of about quarter of the real estate assets it owns in Australia in a sale and leaseback arrangement.
DataRoom reported that investment bank UBS is undertaking preparatory work for Ramsay, with a sale process likely to be launched next year.
The country’s largest private hospital operator has previously ruled out a sale of all of its $4.5bn-plus real estate portfolio, due to financial disadvantages from a tax perspective.
However, DataRoom understands the company has signalled some assets can be offloaded without any big capital gains tax payments that would make the move counter-productive.
Elsewhere, it has been radio silence from Healius about the sale of its day surgery business since final bids were received over a week ago.
The final two bidders were Queensland Investment Corporation and Cura Day Hospital Group owner Fresenius.
Sources had earlier believed that QIC was the front runner to buy the portfolio, which was expected to fetch between $140m and $160m. However, some suspect a lack of news on a deal could suggest that offers were below price expectations.
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