Australia’s healthcare group keeps European focus

Ramsay Health Care has resisted calls to sweeten its bid for pan-European healthcare business Capio AB, saying its €661m offer would drive value for shareholders in both businesses.

The Australian healthcare giant launched an unsolicited takeover bid for Nasdaq Stockholm listed Capio AB in July through its French subsidiary Ramsay Générale de Santé (RGdS). Its offer of SEK 48.5 per share represents a premium of 17% on the previous month’s trading but was swiftly rejected by Capio’s Board on the grounds that it undervalued the group, which has operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and France. Days later, it announced plans to restructure the business to focus on the Nordic markets with possible divestment of its French and German businesses.

A further obstacle was thrown in Ramsay’s path last month after Capio announced the proposed sale of its 22-hospital strong French business to Vivalto Santé for €445m, prompting speculation that RGdS would increase its bid.

However, in a public offer document to shareholders yesterday, Ramsay confirmed its original offer, saying: ‘The combined group (including RGdS and Capio) would become a leading provider of healthcare services in Europe, with a well-balanced geographic footprint across six countries and with the ability to offer patients an attractive value proposition through a combination of deep domain expertise and an innovative delivery model.’