MPIC buys 56.5% stake in Asian Hospital

MANILA, Philippines — Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has completed the purchase of a 56.5-percent stake in upscale hospital Asian Hospital Inc. in Alabang from the Bumrungrad group of Thailand and will now make an offer to buy out all other shares held by minority stockholders.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, MPIC said it had finished the acquisition of a total of 1.09 billion common shares of AHI, which triggered the mandatory tender offer for the remaining 842.45 million shares in the hands of the public equivalent to about 43.5 percent of the hospital.

“All the shares tendered shall be purchased by the bidder at the highest price per share paid for the AHI shares acquired from the sellers. The terms of the tender offer shall be announced separately after final determination thereof,” the MPIC said.

To get the majority stake, MPIC bought direct shares from Bumrungrad International Ltd. and indirect shares from Bumrungrad International Philippines Inc. and Neptune Stroika Holdings Inc.

MPIC earlier announced it would pay around P1.46 billion to buy around 57 percent of Asian Hospital’s equity following an agreement with the Bumrungrad group in November 2011.

AHI thus became the sixth hospital in the growing network of premium hospitals controlled by the local unit of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led First Pacific group nationwide. With this acquisition, the MPIC Hospital Group now has an excess of 1,800 beds throughout the Philippine archipelago.