In a complex R16bn agreement, Remgro and its Swiss-based investment partner, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), will give the Johann Rupert-chaired firm full control of SA’s third-largest hospital operator, Mediclinic, reports News24.
MSC will take full control of the group’s Hirslanden Private Hospital Group operations in exchange, while the parties continue to remain co-investors in the Middle East, as well as the UK.
The deal will essentially see each party pay the other $950m in exchange for assets of equal value. The transaction, for example, includes the ability for cash payment adjustments to be paid to either party to ensure equal value at the time of implementation.
The transaction, first mooted in December, has a long-stop date of the end of September.
Outstanding conditions include a binding tax ruling from Swiss tax authorities “in respect of various real estate matters”, as well as competition approvals in SA and Switzerland.
Geneva-headquartered MSC is the world’s largest shipping company.
Mediclinic has about 9 000 beds: it owns 50 hospitals, 15 day clinics, five sub-acute and six mental health facilities throughout SA as well as three private hospitals in Namibia.
Hirslanden, formed in 1990, is the largest private acute care hospital group in Switzerland, treating about a third of private hospital patients in the country. It has 16 hospitals, five outpatient surgery units and 1 769 inpatient beds.
As a whole, Switzerland has about 40 000 hospital beds and 275 hospitals, and its government, including healthcare provision, is highly decentralised.
Mediclinic said it would make every effort to accommodate all employees “within the future structures and to explore reasonable alternatives”. It has more than 21 000 employees in SA, with about 8 000 staff in both Switzerland and the Middle East.
It intends to continue the collaboration in the Middle East, saying that “while local focus is critical to operational excellence, collaboration remains key to global opportunity”.
News24 article – Remgro sews up R16bn terms for full control of Mediclinic (Restricted access)
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Pro bono surgeries in Remgro-Mediclinic deal
Mediclinic and Remgro reach agreement on buyout offer
Johann Rupert group in Mediclinic takeover bid