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Healthscope Chairman Gordon Ballantyne said that Ellerston Capital's conditional backing to a renewed $ 4.1 billion offering from BGH Capital is not a sign that the major shareholder has lost confidence in the private hospital operator.
The fund managed by Ashok Jacob, which controls 9.3% of Healthscope, is among the shareholders who plan to vote against the company's compensation report and against the re-election of its president, Paula Dwyer, at the annual meeting of the company next Wednesday.
It will be a huge week for the country's second-largest private hospital service provider, with the opening of its $ 840 million flagship hospital, Northern Beaches, and the start of patient transfer from Mona Vale hospitals and hospitals. Manly in the next two days.
After announcing Wednesday that Healthscope had received final approval for the opening of the hospital, Ballantyne said council was reviewing the new $ 2.36 per share BGH consortium offer and AustralianSuper and remained in a regular contract with its shareholders.
"We continue to talk to all shareholders and we are interested in all their prospects.This offer is similar to the previous offer of April," he said. The Australian Financial Review.
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When asked if Ellerston's request for due diligence was a sign that the fund manager had lost confidence in the board and in the direction of Healthscope, Mr. Ballantyne replied, "No, that's to encourage us to participate, as we have already done, argues – and all shareholders would have a similar view – that we apply a proper degree of due diligence … and that is exactly what we do and we will respond in due course. "
Shareholders expect Healthscope to react quickly as the company has already spent $ 13 million over the past year to evaluate the offers. Ms. Dwyer also faces the threat of an embarrbading shareholder revolt at the General Assembly. CGI Glbad Lewis pleads for a vote against his reelection.
However, Financial badysis may reveal the presence of another voting advisor ISS recommends shareholders to support all resolutions, including its re-election and the compensation report. In 2017, Healthscope narrowly missed a "strike" (when 25% or more of the voices were voiced against the report), but according to ISS, the company's "compensation practices" appear broadly consistent with market practice local".
Tim Kelley, of Montgomery Investment Management, has been a shareholder of Healthscope for a number of years but sold his position in May when the board began to dispose of its real estate badets after reversing the first offer of BGH and another from Brookfield in Canada. Mr. Kelley said that the real estate split would not provide any value to shareholders.
"We were disappointed with this answer," he said. "The property [sale and leaseback] was in our opinion a major disadvantage and high costs without any real economic benefit. I see [in] the market share price has not yet been rewarded as a result of these initiatives. "
Kelley said the board of directors could now have a better idea of what shareholders would prefer to see happen. "The council needs to determine if it made the right decision last time," he said.
Mr Ballantyne said that the announcement of Northern Beaches had no connection with the news of Tuesday's new offer.
"This was a crucial announcement (…) to ensure the transition of all clinicians and all staff, with a full set of services available," he said. "It's not a trivial step. It's after four years. We said we would open on October 30 and open on October 30. We are really excited about the partnership we have had with the NSW government and other key partnerships. The respect of deadlines and budget is a rarity in the sector. "
Mr. Ballantyne stated that 550 staff would be transferred from two nearby hospitals and that there was no shortage of staff in any unit. "We have finalized all contracts with all doctors and nurses and all non-clinical staff," he said. "There is no shortage of staff because if there had been, we would not have taken this step."
CSLA badyst David Stanton said discussions with industry players suggest that openness may be difficult. "The checks done by the television channels indicate that most surgeons have signed contracts with the Northern Beaches Hospital of Healthscope." That said, we believe that a fairly large group of surgeons continue to resist because of problems related to to the group contract.
"In addition, we understand that a large group of anesthetists has not yet signed, due to contractual issues," he said in a note to clients.
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