Mitsui sells RM1bil worth of shares in IHH Healthcare
Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore is one of IHH Healthcare group's assets.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, IHH said Mitsui’s disposal of 164.6 million RM1 shares through its subsidiary MBK Healthcare Partners Ltd was done in a direct business transaction.
IHH has ceased to be an associate company of Mitsui following this reduction in stake in the world’s second-largest listed heathcare operator to 18.045%.
This was the first time since IHH’s listing in July 2012 that the Japanese company -- the second largest shareholder in IHH -- had pared down its stake. In contrast, IHH’s largest shareholder Khazanah Nasional Bhd and third largest shareholder the Employees Provident Fund Board have been actively buying and selling IHH shares.
Mitsui had acquired 30% equity interest in the hospital group - then called Integrated Healthcare Holdings Sdn Bhd - from the Malaysian government investment arm in April 2011 for RM3.3bil, or RM2 per share.
The private healthcare player made its debut on Bursa Malaysia and Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd on July 25, 2012. As part of the exercise, which marked the largest initial public offering for a hospital operator in Asia, Mitsui’s stake was diluted to 20.32% (1.65 billion shares).
IHH’s institutional and retail price was fixed at RM2.80/S$1.113. IHH price has steadily climbed since then except for a short period between late 2013 and early 2014. The counter closed 12 sen lower on Tuesday at RM6.31 with 10.07 million shares changing hands.
The IHH group comprises premium-brand healthcare assets, with brands such as Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, Pantai and Acibadem brands. It was reported that Mitsui’s investment in IHH in 2011 as the Japanese group’s first investment in hospital assets.
Khazanah and Mitsui recently made another joint investment, tsking a combined 40% stake in New York-listed DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc’s Asia-Pacific kidney care business.
Mitsui also recently invested US$101mil (RM417.2mil) in hospital operator Columbia Asia, which is part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management.
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