SYDNEY: KKR & Co and a rival private-equity group that includes Carlyle Group and TPG Capital planned to submit final offers for Australian hospital owner Healthscope yesterday, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
KKR, bidding alone, had about 12 lenders backing its offer, one of the people said,
declining to be identified because the plans are private. Bids for Australia's second-biggest hospital owner were due yesterday, another person said.
Healthscope, which runs the Prince of Wales Private Hospital in east Sydney, last month allowed bidders access to its accounts after receiving competing A$1.8 billion ($2.1 billion) proposals. Blackstone Group pulled out of the Carlyle bidding group because it could not agree on pricing, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Carlyle's group in May offered A$5.75 for each Healthscope share, valuing the company at A$1.82 billion, people familiar with the process have said.
KKR was the suitor behind a A$5.80-a-share approach later that month, another person familiar with the matter said.
Healthscope fell for a second day in Sydney trading, closing down 1c at A$5.40. The stock has risen 5.3 per cent this year.
- Bloomberg
