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Remgro and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have proposed a cash offer to buy out Mediclinic shareholders.
The offer was made on May 26th, but was rejected by the Mediclinic board.
They are offering shareholders 463 pence (R89) per share. Mediclinic’s share price closed at R79.78 on Wednesday evening, but jumped more than 4% on Thursday morning following news of the bid.
The share price has been climbing since May 24th, gaining 20% over the past two weeks.
In a statement on Thursday morning, Mediclinic said the offer "significantly undervalued Mediclinic and its future prospects". It confirmed that the board “unanimously” rejected the bid.
Mediclinic said that in terms of UK regulations, the consortium has until 7 July to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Mediclinic, or confirm that it does not intend to make an offer.
Remgro and MSC are equal partners in the consortium that wants to take control of Mediclinic. Remgro already owns 44.6% of Mediclinic. MSC is an international shipping group which is headquartered in Switzerland. It is a privately held company, owned by the Italian Aponte family.
Following the board’s rejection of the offer, Remgro and MSC are considering their position.
“There can be no certainty that any [new] offer will be made,” they said in a statement. But they added that any further offer is likely to be solely in cash.
The consortium also reserved the right to make an offer for Mediclinic at any time at a lower value or on less favourable terms.
Mediclinic was founded in 1984 after the Rembrandt Group (now Remgro) commissioned Edwin Hertzog to investigate the launch of a private hospital group. It has been listed on the JSE since 1986.
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