By Christine Chen and Renju Jose
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s Healthscope has received 10 non-binding indicative offers in a sale process that would take eight to 10 weeks to complete, its CEO said after the nation’s second-largest private hospital operator was put into receivership on Monday.
Creditors are seeking a sale of Healthscope’s business aimed at recouping what local media said was about A$1.6 billion ($1.04 billion) in debt.
CEO Tino La Spina told a press conference there was buyer interest in taking over the business as a whole, while assuring its hospital operations would continue as usual.
“We’re confident that there is interest in taking Healthscope business as a whole. We have 10 non-binding indicative offers,” he said.
“There will be a change of ownership. Receivers have been appointed to sell off Healthscope hospital assets. But from the point of view of doctors, nurses, staff and patients, there’s nothing to worry about – it’s just business as usual.”
In a separate press conference, Australia’s health minister said he sought assurances from Healthscope that medical operations would proceed.
“I had a conversation in the past half an hour with the CEO and I sought an assurance from him that the thousands of Australians who right now have a birth plan or knee reconstruction booked can be confident that procedure will go ahead as planned and is booked,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.
“I received that assurance from the CEO and I have to say I will hold the company and the receivers and administrators to the commitment given to me and to Australian patients and staff,” Butler said.
He added there would be no taxpayer-funded bailout for the company.
Healthscope operates 37 hospitals across the country. Its lenders voted to place the company into receivership after being given control earlier by private equity owner Brookfield.
La Spina said the “core issues” facing Healthscope included too much secured debt and high rentals.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has also provided receivers McGrathNicol with a new A$100 million funding package to support operations during the sale process, Healthscope said in a statement.
($1 = 1.5337 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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