Mediclinic International’s board has accepted an offer by a Remgro and MSC Shipping consortium company to buy its shares and delist the private healthcare group in a $4.49 billion (R75.17bn) deal.
Mediclinic’s board had on June 9 rejected the consortium’s offer of 463 pence a share (including a final dividend of 3 pence) on the basis it undervalued the group. However, the board said yesterday’s cash offer of 504 pence represented a 50 percent premium to Mediclinic’s average share price for the six months to May 25, 2022, of 337 pence.
“We believe the proposal represents Mediclinic shareholders’ near-term value realisation. Therefore, we expect that more than the required 75 percent of the Mediclinic shareholders will approve the deal at voting,” Anchor Capital investment analyst Stephan Erasmus commented.
Mediclinic’s share price increased 2.40 percent to R101.11 on the JSE yesterday afternoon.
@YashRaghavjee said on Twitter: “Offer at 504 pence in cash per share or just over R100. Looks like the market had this one mostly priced in after the initial offer.”
Remgro chief executive Jannie Durand said that under the stewardship of the consortium Mediclinic would be well-positioned to execute on its strategy and undertake the investment required to realise the full potential of the business.
Remgro already owns around 44.56 percent of Mediclinic and is its biggest shareholder.
“The acquisition values the entire share capital of Mediclinic at about £3.7bn (around R75.33bn), and an implied enterprise value of some £6.1bn (R124.2bn),” Mediclinic said in a statement.
Mediclinic said the offer also represented a premium of about 35 percent to the closing price per Mediclinic share of 373 pence on May 25, the day prior to the date on which the initial proposal was made.
Mediclinic shareholders will also receive the final dividend of 3 pence per share declared on May 25.
Mediclinic chairperson Dame Inga Beale said: “The recommended offer represents a near-term value realisation for Mediclinic shareholders at an attractive premium.
“Over 39 years, Mediclinic has developed into the leading international healthcare services group it is today. During this time, Remgro has remained a supportive shareholder,” she said.
Durand said the transaction was “fully aligned with our strategy of prioritising our ownership of structurally attractive, unlisted assets”.
Diego Aponte, group president of MSC, said: “MSC is well placed to provide long-term capital, as well as our insight and experience from operating a global business, to support the strategic ambitions of the Mediclinic management team. We believe that, alongside Remgro, our ownership will provide Mediclinic with significant resources to the benefit of all of Mediclinic’s stakeholders, including in particular its patients, employees, doctors and host governments.”
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