Fortis shares tank 16% after SC orders forensic audit for IHH Healthcare share sale

New Delhi: Shares of Fortis Healthcare tumbled about 16 per cent in morning session on Thursday after the Supreme Court of India ordered a forensic audit for its share sale to Malaysia's IHH Healthcare.

The share were trading at Rs 263, down around 16 per cent on Thursday. The had stock ended the previous session at Rs 311.20 on BSE.

In its order, the Supreme Court said that the Delhi High Court will decide on the open offer, proposed by IHH Healthcare.

Malaysia's IHH Healthcare had acquired a 31 per cent controlling stake in Fortis in 2018, which had triggered a mandatory open offer to acquire another 26 per cent of the hospital chain shares from the market.

It had acquired the stake in Fortis Healthcare in August 2018 by paying $1.1 billion in a bidding process overseen by an independent board.

The open offer, however, could not move forward due to ongoing legal proceedings with respect to the transaction based on a plea filed by Daiichi Sankyo.

The Japanese drug maker had challenged the Fortis-IHH deal to recover the Rs 3,600 crore arbitration award it had won in a Singapore tribunal against Fortis’ erstwhile promoters.

Daiichi Sankyo had moved the plea against the Singh brothers and Indiabulls alleging that the two had pledged 1.7 million shares of Fortis Healthcare held by Fortis Healthcare Holding, despite the apex court forbidding it.