Manipal Hospitals’ Ranjan Pai has questioned Fortis Healthcare board and expert advisory committee on their process of choosing a suitor for the cash-strapped hospital network.

Earlier this week, Manipal Group put forth a revised, more aggressive offer for Fortis after the deadline for offers had lapsed and the board had found a partner in the Hero-Dabur combine.

Pointing out that the process was not done “in the right spirit”, Pai, Chairman, Manipal Education and Medical Group, said that everyone is a stakeholder – shareholders, employees, doctors and patients.

“You have to look at everybody and see who is the best fit for it. And that's what I would expect an expert advisory committee to look at. Nothing was done,” he told BusinessLine .

“If you don’t look at the track record, if you are only looking at the headline number then why do you need an expert advisory committee,” he added.

With the deadline now lapsed, will the Fortis board evaluate the latest bid from Manipal, who were in fact its first and as it turns out now the highest bidder?

“Why did they (Fortis) consider somebody else's bid, when initially we had also signed a binding bid on March 27?” asks Pai.

“There was a process, for 18 months the process ran, they signed a binding bid. Why did they accept others? Because the shareholders were unhappy,” he says, adding that his Group was doing the same thing.

“The EGM notice had not gone out. What is the difference between then and now? At least in our bid it was a unanimous board, this is a split board,” he says, referring to the board's recommendation.

Manipal's latest offer sits at the top of the pile including a preferential allotment at ₹180 per share and the intent to keep SRL diagnostics.

The other prospective suitor, Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhad group is keeping a close watch on Manipal's latest manoeuvres, if indeed a fresh round of bidding was opening up.

With the present board's credibility being called into question by investors, among others, Pai said that his Group pitched a fresh offer because investors were unhappy with the board's recommendation. “

Explaining what Manipal Hospitals brings to the table, Pai said, “Our track record speaks for itself. And we have got multiple private equity partners who have come on board made decent money and exited. So that's our track record.”

Tick all boxes

The hospital's doctors are not incentivised to push patients for tests and their actions are peer reviewed, especially if there are too many interventions like stenting for example, Pai says, explaining that from a quality of medical practice , ethics and finance standpoint, they tick all the boxes.

While Pai is firm that the TPG-led group will walk away beyond a certain point, he does not commit to whether the latest bid will be their last. “I don’t want to say never. I did it twice in the past and I have had to bite my tongue,” says Pai.

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