Enough is enough
Nile Misr Medical Holding is ready to exit the race to acquire Alexandria Medical Services should the bidding war continue to drive up the purchase price, the CEO of the company told us yesterday. “We’re still in the race, but we think [offers on the table] are on the high end of the valuation,” said CEO Tarek Moharram, without disclosing the value of Nile Misr’s bid. Moharram’s Elevate Private Equity set up the USD 380 mn healthcare platform earlier this year alongside Misr Capital.
The most recent bid: EGP 740 mn. Tawasol Holdings and LimeVest last month offered to purchase a 74% stake in Alex Medical at EGP 52 a share. Tawasol already owns 26% of Alex Medical, meaning the acquisition would give the consortium 100% ownership.
This was a response to bids submitted by Tana Africa and Global One Healthcare, which offered to purchase the company for EGP 49.04 per share and EGP 47.98. Cleopatra Hospitals Group, meanwhile, has the lowest bid, valuing the company at EGP 550 mn with its EGP 38.53 per-share offer in May.
Could it climb further? PwC reckons so. The accounting firm’s due diligence report suggested that this could rise to EGP 800 mn, given the strong competition for the company.
One player has already left the game: Speed Medical quit the Tawasol-LimeVest consortium in May for unknown reasons. The group had previously offered to purchase shares for EGP 38.09 apiece in April.
The trigger for the bidding war: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) wants to sell its 51.4% stake in the company that it acquired from NMC Healthcare’s BR Shetty. ADCB was one of the Emirati healthcare firm’s main creditors when it went into administration last year.
OTHER M&A NEWS-
- Maridive isn’t selling its subsidiary: Maridive Oil & Services said talks with Jeddah-based Al Subaie Investment Group over the sale of its subsidiary Maridive Offshore Projects have ended without agreement, the EGX-listed company said in a statement (pdf). Maridive’s board in February approved Al Subaie’s offer to purchase 100% of the subsidiary for USD 48 mn.
- Remco shareholders have agreed to study a bid from unnamed local investors to acquire a 99.98% stake in Empain Tourism Investments, it said in an EGX filing (pdf).