Trading halt called for RHT Health Trust amid talk of buyout

Singapore

RHT Health Trust called for a trading halt on Monday morning after it was queried by the Singapore Exchange on unusual share-price movement for the second time in two months. The halt was lifted at night.

The halt came as a Bloomberg report said the trust's major shareholder, Fortis Healthcare, was considering a buyout of all the units it didn't already own in the trust. Fortis currently owns 29.6 per cent of RHT. This would require Indian private healthcare player Fortis to raise cash which it may do by bringing onboard a new investor, Bloomberg reported. IHH Healthcare was singled out as a potential investor, as was KKR & Co, TPG and Bain Capital. RHT has a market value of about S$698 million.