Fortis withdraws "arrangement and amalgamation" scheme

Fortis Healthcare (FHL) has withdrawn a composite scheme of "arrangement and amalgamation between the company, Fortis Malar Hospitals, SRL and their respective shareholders and creditors", subject to NCLT approval.

According to a late Wednesday night BSE filing, the company said the scheme is "currently pending for approval with the NCLT, Chandigarh Bench".

The company cited delays in the process as one of the reasons to withdraw the scheme. FHL said the entire process was expected to be completed in 6-8 months, however, due to reasons beyond its control, the process has taken over 19 months and is still not complete.

"During this period of 19 months (a) healthcare sector has witnessed strong headwinds and (b) performance of diagnostics business has not been optimum," the filing said.

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"Given the challenges or headwinds in the sector and less than optimum performance of the diagnostics business during the period of delay, the demerger and a subsequent listing may result in value unlocking that may not be optimum for Fortis shareholders at this point of time."