Life Healthcare has appointed Barclays and Goldman Sachs to evaluate unsolicited offers for its diagnostic imaging services subsidiary Alliance Medical Group (AMG), it announced this week.
The company, valued at R24.89bn on the JSE, said the subsidiary was “strategically important” to the group, but “notwithstanding, the board believes it has an obligation to evaluate the proposals received and assess the implications thereof”, it said on Tuesday.
“No decisions have been taken, other than to undertake this initial assessment,” the group added.
Life Healthcare acquired AMG in 2016, which generated more than one-quarter of total group revenue in its 2022 financial year, reports BusinessLIVE.
Operating at 236 sites in the UK and 12 European countries, it also manufactures and distributes radioisotopes, atoms with an unstable nucleus that emit radiation as they decay, and which are used in medical imaging.
Life Healthcare comprises two segments: the Southern Africa one, focusing on acute hospital and complementary services, and the international segment, comprising AMG and Life Molecular Imaging (LMI).
In terms of overall performance, the Southern African segment benefited from greater patient numbers as admissions rose 14% year on year, paid patient days (PPDs) 13% and theatre minutes 11%.
However, a slowdown is expected in February and March after the strong recent performance.
Revenue advanced 11% year on year as spending on generator diesel to combat load-shedding surged fivefold to R25m.
The revenue of the international segment was up close to one tenth as it benefited from stronger diagnostic imaging volumes, but it warned high inflation worldwide is driving up its costs.
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