As suitors circle Healthscope, its management mulls a different path
But the non-binding offers won't include a bid from Healthscope's current management, who are contemplating a scheme to convert the company into a not-for-profit entity.
It would mirror the resurrection of Australia's largest child care provider Goodstart Early learning, from the ashes of the collapsed ABC Learning empire, as a not-for-profit provider.
Healthscope insiders have confirmed reports in the Australian Financial Review last week that its chief executive, Tino La Spina, is working on the plan as an alternative to a sale of the business to either commercial interests or other Australian not-for-profit operators like St Vincent's Health Australia.
Healthscope declined to comment. People with knowledge of the proposal, who are not authorised to discuss the matter, confirmed that the plans are not advanced enough to put in a non-binding indicative offer by the Monday, July 21 deadline.
But La Spina's team have been consulting with the receivers from McGrathNicol who are managing the sale, with a view to putting in a proposal during the second stage of the sales process where interested parties are expected to lodge binding offers for the business.
This includes local not-for-profit operators, ASX-listed Ramsay Health Care, privately owned Healthe Care and a potential debt-for-equity swap that could see lenders like UK-based Polus Capital take control.
The receivers are acting for lenders which are owed $1.7 billion, according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Australia's Big Four banks are among the lenders which will be hit with significant losses as the sales price is not expected to get anywhere near what is owed to them.
The debt includes $52 million owed to the former owner, Canadian financial giant, Brookfield, which had $2 billion in equity wiped out when the group collapsed into administration earlier this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
5 minutes ago
- Perth Now
RBA governor's speech sinks ASX 200
Australia's sharemarket slid during Thursday's trading as disappointing quarterly updates and a speech by Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock weighed on the market. The benchmark ASX 200 closed lower on Thursday dropping 27.80 points or 0.32 per cent to 8,709.40 points while the broader All Ordinaries slipped 22 points or 02.4 per cent to 8,979.40. The Aussie dollar jumped 0.19 per cent and is now buying 66.11 US cents. All sectors except health care closed in the red, with the falls led by industrials, property, consumer discretionary and energy stocks. ASX slipped after RBA governor Michele Bullock's speech. Photo: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia Market heavyweight CSL gained 1.53 per cent to $269.56, while ResMed gained 0.44 per cent to $41.10 and Cochlear closed 0.03 per cent higher to $314.01. Three of the four major banks also finished in the green, despite the sector as a whole falling. CBA eked out a 0.10 per cent gain to $173.47, NAB jumped 1.24 per cent to $37.66 and Westpac finished 0.54 per cent higher to $33.29. ANZ was the outlier sliding 0.43 per cent to $30.44. After jumping on the opening bell, shares subsequently fell after RBA governor Michele Bullock made her speech at the Annika Foundation lunch. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said the market's confidence in a rate cut in August slipped after the speech. 'The RBA governor has elected to look through the recent criticism and, in her speech, downplayed the rise in employment saying it wasn't a surprise,' he wrote in a market note. 'She also noted that monthly inflation data suggests the inflation rate may not fall as fast as forecast in May.' Ten of the 11 sectors finished in the red. NewsWire Christian Gilles Credit: News Corp Australia Following Ms Bullock's speech the markets knocked off about five basis points or RBA rate cuts by the end of the year. In company news earnings results disappointed on Thursday. Macquarie shares dived 5.08 per cent to $213.84 after telling the market longstanding chief financial officer Alex Harvey will retire mid-2026 as well as announcing its first quarter data. Macquarie, which is broken up into four business segments, said its banking and financial services and Macquarie capital improved performance over the three months until June 30. But its Macquarie Asset Management and Commodities and Global Markets segments slipped. Overall Macquarie Group reported a $3.7bn profit for FY25. It was also a disappointing trading update for Bapcor with shares slumping to a five-year low after the Autobarn and Midas owner said statutory net profits after tax would lie between $31 to $34m. Shares in the company slumped 28.38 per cent to $3.66 on the announcement. In a positive trading update Fortescue shares jumped 4.34 per cent to $19 after the investing giant announced its fourth quarter update showing it shipped a record-breaking annual shipment of 198.4Mt in FY 2025. Lynas Rare Earths gained 5.03 per cent to $10.65 after its shipment jumped 38 per cent compared to the prior quarter.
Sydney Morning Herald
35 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘We are looking to go 50-50': Ciaron Maher eyes bigger slice of Sydney riches
Ciaron Maher will aim to split his massive team more evenly across Victoria and NSW next season as he chases more wins in the rich Sydney racing scene. And he hopes the likes of Sacred Rocks and Hi Dubai, which race at Randwick on Saturday, can lead the early charge. Maher's stable last week became the first to win more than $60 million in prizemoney in a season and is closing out a third consecutive Australian trainers' premiership, with 322.5 winners before Thursday's meetings. Chris Waller was second on 270. The Victorian has built the amazing success largely on performances in his home state, but his reach in NSW is set to grow with the move of his Sydney stable from Warwick Farm to Leilani Lodge at Randwick. The larger stable, together with existing arms of his operation at Bong Bong Farm in the Southern Highland and Bobs Farm in the Hunter, are part of Maher's ambition to expand and increase his winning totals in NSW. 'There's about 20 extra stables, but we sort of alternate,' Maher said of the difference between his Warwick Farm stables and Leilani Lodge, which is still being renovated. 'We have up to 200 at Ballarat but that fluctuates, and all the other stables stay full. But we own that joint, so that's why we can do that. We haven't sort of changed for about two or three seasons now, so it's always just consolidate. 'We are looking to go 50-50. We are sort of 60-40 with Victoria at the moment, but 50-50 with Sydney has been the aim for a couple of years.' Maher has 84.5 winners in NSW, with 48 in town, this season. Those numbers are dwarfed by Waller's. The Rosehill trainer, who is upgrading his Flemington operation with a move into Godolphin's Carbine Lodge, has 182 and 140 wins respectively in NSW and metro will secure a 15th consecutive Sydney trainers' premiership. The expansion of Maher's operations, though, raises the question of whether he can one day challenge Waller's reign in Sydney.
The Age
35 minutes ago
- The Age
‘We are looking to go 50-50': Ciaron Maher eyes bigger slice of Sydney riches
Ciaron Maher will aim to split his massive team more evenly across Victoria and NSW next season as he chases more wins in the rich Sydney racing scene. And he hopes the likes of Sacred Rocks and Hi Dubai, which race at Randwick on Saturday, can lead the early charge. Maher's stable last week became the first to win more than $60 million in prizemoney in a season and is closing out a third consecutive Australian trainers' premiership, with 322.5 winners before Thursday's meetings. Chris Waller was second on 270. The Victorian has built the amazing success largely on performances in his home state, but his reach in NSW is set to grow with the move of his Sydney stable from Warwick Farm to Leilani Lodge at Randwick. The larger stable, together with existing arms of his operation at Bong Bong Farm in the Southern Highland and Bobs Farm in the Hunter, are part of Maher's ambition to expand and increase his winning totals in NSW. 'There's about 20 extra stables, but we sort of alternate,' Maher said of the difference between his Warwick Farm stables and Leilani Lodge, which is still being renovated. 'We have up to 200 at Ballarat but that fluctuates, and all the other stables stay full. But we own that joint, so that's why we can do that. We haven't sort of changed for about two or three seasons now, so it's always just consolidate. 'We are looking to go 50-50. We are sort of 60-40 with Victoria at the moment, but 50-50 with Sydney has been the aim for a couple of years.' Maher has 84.5 winners in NSW, with 48 in town, this season. Those numbers are dwarfed by Waller's. The Rosehill trainer, who is upgrading his Flemington operation with a move into Godolphin's Carbine Lodge, has 182 and 140 wins respectively in NSW and metro will secure a 15th consecutive Sydney trainers' premiership. The expansion of Maher's operations, though, raises the question of whether he can one day challenge Waller's reign in Sydney.
