There has been a new development in the takeover of the Singaporean hospital chain Parkway Holdings (PH), which Fortis and Khazanah have been fighting over for more than a month now. In order to counter a preliminary offer from the Malaysian fund, the Indian company Fortis, which operates in the same sector, had allied itself with the Singaporean sovereign fund. But that counter-attack risks being compromised, since the latter announced yesterday that it had postponed its acquisition of a stake in Fortis.

At the beginning of May, the Malaysian fund had first announced its intention to invest 835 million dollars in the chain, of which it already owns 23.2%, which would make it the majority shareholder of PH with 51.5% of the shares. Fortis, which is a company in the same sector, owned by two Indian billionaires, which owns 25.3% of PH, had bid higher and announce its intention of raising 1.

2 billion dollars in collaboration with the GIC. The latter's announcement today puts in doubt the increase in the capital of Fortis, which has until 30 July to announce a plan to take over the Singaporean chain.

According to the press in Singapore, Fortis should pay out a total of 2.3 billion to buy the whole of PH. It remains to be seen whether Parkway Holdings will accept Fortis's offer, while the Indian hospital chain is itself the main shareholder of its Malaysian counterpart Pantai, which represents a quarter of its income.

PH, which manages more than 16 hospitals in Malaysia, India and Singapore, represents a good opportunity both for Fortis and Kazanah, which will enable them to increase their positions in the Asian hospital sector.