Fortis to buy Wockhardt assets for $187 mln

By Ketan Bondre

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Fortis Healthcare Ltd said on Monday it will pay 9.09 billion rupees ($187 million) to buy 10 hospitals from Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd, which failed in its efforts to go public last year.

The acquisition will add 1,902 beds to New Delhi-based Fortis' network, taking its capacity to 5,180 across 38 hospitals, and expands its presence in western, southern and eastern India.

"This acquisition allows Fortis Healthcare to have a national presence ... it significantly strengthens and enlarges the critical infrastructure and our understanding of patients along the country," Malvinder Singh, the chairman of Fortis Healthcare, said at a press briefing.

India's largest hospital chain, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, was also looking to buy hospitals from Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd but dropped those plans in June, citing differences over valuation.

Shares of both Fortis and Wockhardt Ltd rallied on Monday, with Fortis shares closing up 6.6 percent at 116.05 rupees, while Wockhardt ended up 8.9 percent at 176.80 rupees in a Mumbai market that closed up 2.55 percent.

Monday's deal, set to be completed in December, includes 8 operational hospitals in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, and two that are under construction, along with 2,700 total staff, Vishal Bali, chief executive of Wockhardt Hospitals said.

Bali, along with 12 other senior members of the Wockhardt Hospital management would be shifting to Fortis, Bali added.

Earlier this month, Fortis approved a rights issue to raise 9.97 billion rupees, much of it slated to fund expansion.