Alex Medical’s board takes issue with Tawasol-LimeVest’s offer: The Alexandria Medical Services board has shared its opinion on the Tawasol Holdings-LimeVest consortium’s bid to acquire up to 74% of the company — and it’s not too positive, with the board saying the offer doesn’t represent the value of the company and lacks concrete plans for the future, it said in a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX yesterday. This comes in the middle of the subscription period for the consortium’s mandatory tender offer (MTO), which offered to purchase shares at EGP 47.67 apiece, valuing the company at around EGP 742.3 mn.

Valuation is wide of the mark: The board said the offer doesn’t reflect the average share price of the company for the six months preceding the launch of the MTO.

Tawasol-LimeVest ups its price again, but still no dice: The board’s stance on the valuation came despite Tawasol-LimeVest upping its offer again yesterday ahead of the meeting. The consortium is now offering to pay EGP 49.00 per share, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) said (pdf) yesterday, a move that came a day after Yas Holding’s improved EGP 48.62 offer.

Alex Medical isn’t convinced by Tawasol-LimeVest’s vision: The bid also contains no firm plans for what the consortium would do with the company post-acquisition and gives contradicting information regarding employees’ job security and labor rights, Alex Medical’s board said.

How will this impact their bid? A mandatory tender offer launched by Tawasol and LimeVest is ongoing until 27 September. It is unknown how many shareholders have agreed to sell their shares to the consortium. The big one is Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank which owns a 51.5% stake in the company, but given its board representation it might not be looking good for the consortium’s bid. ADCB had last year reportedly been looking to sell its majority stake, which it acquired from NMC Healthcare’s disgraced founder, BR Shetty.

What about the competing Yas bid? The Emirati firm’s offer is pending healthcare-sector specific approvals and a go ahead from the FRA.

For those of you just joining us: The Tawasol-LimeVest consortium has been in the running to acquire Alex Medical since last year. The outfit had originally offered EGP 47.67 a share to purchase up to 74% of the company, a bid it renewed last month. Tawasol already owns 26% of Alex Medical, meaning the acquisition could give the consortium 100% ownership.

Could we see others jump back into the fray? Yas and the Tawasol-LimeVest consortium had both put in offers for Alex Medical in June last year, amid a bidding war for the healthcare provider that at its peak saw eight companies and consortiums signal their interest before it fizzled out without a sale.

Advisors: Prime Holding are the brokers on the Tawasol-LimeVest offer and Zaki Hashem and Partners are acting as the consortium’s counsel. Al Ahly Pharos is reportedly Yas’ financial advisor on the transaction, according to sources quoted by Hapi Journal at the time the offer was launched.