Mediclinic mulls hostile takeover of UK associate Spire
Mediclinic International is considering a hostile takeover of its UK associate, Spire Healthcare Group. Mediclinic issued a statement on Monday morning confirming a statement Spire issued to its shareholders, saying the JSE-listed group had approached it to buy the 70.1% of Spire it did not already own. Mediclinic’s offer of £1.50 cash and 0.232 Mediclinic shares per Spire share was rejected by the target company’s independent directors. "As a consequence, Mediclinic is considering its position," Monday’s statement said. According to Mediclinic, its cash and share offer equates to £3 per Spire share, a 15% premium to London-listed hospital group’s £2.61 closing price on Friday. Spire has 401-million shares in issue, so buying the 70.1% it does not already own at £3 per share would cost Mediclinic about £842m. Mediclinic said in a trading statement on October 17 that Spire made a provision amounting to £27.6m for the potential cost of a settlement relating to civil litigation over su...
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