Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care picks banks for US$300m IPO

Kuala Lumpur

RAMSAY Sime Darby Health Care has picked arrangers for an initial public offering in Malaysia that could raise about US$300 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Credit Suisse, Malayan Banking and Morgan Stanley have been chosen to work on the planned listing of the healthcare firm, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

The share sale in Kuala Lumpur could take place as soon as the second half of this year, the people said.

Ramsay Sime could add more banks to the lineup later, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and hence details of the offering, including size and timeline, could still change, they said.

The mandates follow Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby's earlier discussions with potential advisers for spinoff plans of the healthcare unit that it jointly owns with Australia's largest private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care, Bloomberg News reported in October.

Ramsay Sime is in the process of appointing several financial advisers for a preliminary review of strategic options, a representative for Sime Darby said in response to a Bloomberg News query on Monday. Representatives for Credit Suisse, Maybank and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

An offering could see the hospital operator joining glove makers Harps Holdings and Smart Glove as well as property firm Iskandar Waterfront Holdings in seeking to list in Malaysia this year. Companies raised about US$487 million through first-time share sales in the South-east Asian nation in 2020, up from US$458 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ramsay Sime was set up in 2013 to hold Sime Darby and Ramsay Health's combined portfolio of hospitals in South-east Asia. It operates six hospitals in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as a day surgery facility in Hong Kong, according to Sime Darby's annual report.

The joint venture, which posted a profit of RM39 million (S$12.8 million) in the financial year 2020, also runs a nursing college in Malaysia. BLOOMBERG