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Healthscope Says Bids Undervalue Company, Won't Open Books

Healthscope Says Bids Undervalue Company, Won't Open Its Books

(Bloomberg) -- Australian hospital operator Healthscope Ltd. said two competing takeover bids both undervalue the company and it won’t open its books to either suitor.

Instead, Healthscope said Tuesday it was exploring whether to sell and lease back any of its 29 freehold properties, which have a book value of about A$1.3 billion ($986 million).

Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc. last week offered A$4.35 billion, or A$2.50 a share, in cash for Healthscope, topping a bid from private equity firm BGH Capital. Shares in the Melbourne-based company tumbled 5.3 percent to A$2.33 at 10:23 a.m. in Sydney.

For more details on Healthscope’s announcement, click here

In a separate statement Tuesday, Healthscope said it now expected hospital operating Ebitda in the 2018 financial year to be between A$340 million and A$345 million. The company had previously expected it to be in line with last year’s A$359.4 million.

The company runs 45 hospitals in Australia, and has pathology operations across New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, according to its website. Before suitors emerged, Healthscope shares had tumbled 35 percent from a September 2016 high.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net, Peter Vercoe

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.