Fullerton Health shareholder spat clouds US$1 billion sale

A BITTER feud among three friends-turned-foes - all shareholders and co-founders of Fullerton Healthcare Corp (Fullerton Health) - could imperil the months-long sale process of the Asian healthcare solutions firm, including last week's sweetened non-binding offer by Beverly-Hills private equity firm Platinum Equity for the Singapore-headquartered firm.

Ties over the past year or so have frayed between David Sin of SIN Capital, which majority-owns Fullerton Health, and his long-time doctor-colleagues-turned pals Michael Tan and Daniel Chan, the firm's minority shareholders and executive directors.

An early sign of the enmity emerged at the end of 2019, when Dr Tan and Dr Chan stepped down as the medical-services firm's chief executive officer (CEO) and deputy CEO respectively. Following a search for an executive CEO, Ho Kuen Loon was appointed Fullerton Health's group CEO in Jan 2020.