Wockhardt Hospitals's Bali Rules out IPO Plan Revival
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd., which scrapped an initial public offer in India last year due to poor investor response, ruled out a revival of the plan and said it would prefer private equity or merger with a strategic investor.
"I don't think IPO is the way for us to go now," Wockhardt Hospitals Group Chief Executive Officer Vishal Bali said in a television interview today in Singapore. The company is exploring options such as private equity investments to raise funds while a merger with a strategic investor "will help us grow."
Wockhardt Hospitals, a unit of debt-laden drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd., has been looking for investments to grow ever since it withdrew the IPO last year and the parent company got into financial difficulties. The parent is selling businesses to repay debt taken after losses in derivative transactions and to pay for acquisitions in Europe.
Habil Khorakiwala, chairman of Wockhardt, said June 29 it planned to restructure $108 million worth of bonds and sell some non-core businesses in the next six months.
Fortis Healthcare Ltd., an Indian hospital chain, is interested in buying a stake in Wockhardt Hospitals, Khorakiwala said.
To contact the reporters on this story: M.C. Govardhana Rangan in Mumbai at grangan@bloomberg.net Catherine Yang in Hong Kong at cyyang@bloomberg.net .
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd., which scrapped an initial public offer in India last year due to poor investor response, ruled out a revival of the plan and said it would prefer private equity or merger with a strategic investor.
"I don't think IPO is the way for us to go now," Wockhardt Hospitals Group Chief Executive Officer Vishal Bali said in a television interview today in Singapore. The company is exploring options such as private equity investments to raise funds while a merger with a strategic investor "will help us grow."
Wockhardt Hospitals, a unit of debt-laden drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd., has been looking for investments to grow ever since it withdrew the IPO last year and the parent company got into financial difficulties. The parent is selling businesses to repay debt taken after losses in derivative transactions and to pay for acquisitions in Europe.
Habil Khorakiwala, chairman of Wockhardt, said June 29 it planned to restructure $108 million worth of bonds and sell some non-core businesses in the next six months.
Fortis Healthcare Ltd., an Indian hospital chain, is interested in buying a stake in Wockhardt Hospitals, Khorakiwala said.
To contact the reporters on this story: M.C. Govardhana Rangan in Mumbai at grangan@bloomberg.net Catherine Yang in Hong Kong at cyyang@bloomberg.net .
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