Spire Healthcare takeover deadline for Toscafund extended to June 25
Spire Healthcare takeover deadline for Toscafund extended to June 25 June 11 (Reuters) - Britain's Spire Healthcare SPI.L said on Thursday that a deadline for Toscafund Asset Management to confirm its £1 billion ($1.33 billion) buyout proposal for the private hospital operator has been extended to June 25.
If agreed, the deal would hand the asset manager, also Spire's second-largest investor, control of Britain's largest provider of hip and knee operations, at a time when record NHS waiting lists have driven a surge in demand for private healthcare.
Here are some details:
Toscafund offered to buy Spire at 250 pence per share on May 14, a steep 66% premium to its close the day before.
The asset manager built a near-11% stake in Spire while opposing Ramsay Health Care's 250 pence-per-share proposal for Spire in 2021; it now made its bid at the same price.
In March, Spire said that its buyout talks with private equity firms Bridgepoint BPTB.L and Triton had ended.
Shares in the hospital operator, which gained nearly 50% since Toscafund's proposal, were up 3.5% at 221.5 pence as of 1319 GMT on Thursday.
Spire had launched a strategic review in September last year under pressure from activist investor Harwood Capital to consider a possible sale.
($1 = 0.7493 pounds)
(Reporting by Tuhina and Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Diti Pujara)
((Tuhina@thomsonreuters.com;))