Keck Seng to get mandate over Parkway stake

Thursday July 15, 2010





PETALING JAYA: Plantation and property firm Keck Seng (M) Bhd’s board has decided to obtain a shareholders’ mandate in respect of the company’s stake in Singapore-listed healthcare provider Parkway Holdings Ltd.



Keck Seng has 35.58 million shares representing a 3.13% stake in Parkway, a company in which Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Fortis Healthcare Ltd, are battling for control over.



Fortis is controlled by billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. They are Parkway’s single largest shareholder with a 25.3% stake while Khazanah has a 23.8% stake.



To recap, Khazanah’s wholly-owned unit Integrated Healthcare Ltd had made an offer in late May to acquire 313 million shares in Parkway at S$3.78 per share or S$1.18bil (RM2.76bil).



This move, if successful, would see Khazanah holding 51.5% stake in one of Asia’s leading healthcare providers with a network of 16 hospitals and more than 3,400 beds.



On July 1, RHC Healthcare Pte Ltd, a company jointly owned by RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the Singh brothers and Fortis made a voluntary general cash offer for all of Parkway’s shares at S$3.80 per share.



Keck Seng’s board said the rationale for obtaining the mandate was due to “extremely fluid” circumstances surrounding the partial offer by Integrated Healthcare and the cash offer by RHC Healthcare.



The board said a mandate was required as there were possibilities of revised offers from both suitors that might need a quick decision within the deadlines specified under the offers.



“Taking cognisance of this, the board wishes to have the flexibility and authority to choose the best deal for the company,” it told Bursa Malaysia yesterday.



The board said it also wanted to consider the option of either keeping part or all of the Parkway shares as long-term investment taking into consideration the long-term prospects of the healthcare industry and the prospects of Parkway under the new controlling shareholder, whether it be Khazanah or Fortis.


http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/15/business/6667685&sec=business