Ramsay shares soar

Proposed offer: Trading information for KKR displayed on a screen at the New York Stock Exchange. The firm is on the verge of taking over Ramsay that would rank as the biggest private equity-backed buyout of an Australian company. — Reuters

SYDNEY: Ramsay Health Care Ltd, Australia’s largest private hospital operator, said it received a A$20.05bil (US$14.80bil or RM63.37bil) indicative takeover offer from a consortium led by private equity giant KKR & Co.

The non-binding proposal of A$88 (RM279) cash per share represents a premium of nearly 37% to Ramsay’s Tuesday closing price of A$64.39 (RM204). The offer sent the hospital operator’s shares up as much as 29.8% to A$83.55 (RM265) in early trade, their biggest-ever intraday jump.