Fortis extends deadline for binding offers following announcement of Q4 and FY18 results

Cash-strapped Fortis Healthcare has extended to July 3 the deadline for submitting binding offers for a deal, the company told stock exchanges late on Thursday.

The healthcare group was earlier expecting these offers by June 28 but has pushed the deadline after it delayed the announcement of its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2018.

It is still awaiting its auditor's report and had to "readjust" the bidding timeline as a result, said Ravi Rajagopal, the chair of its board, earlier during an investor call on Wednesday.

Bids are expected from four investors - a combine of Hero Enterprise's Sunil Kant Munjal and the Burman family of the Dabur group, a consortium of Manipal Health Enterprises and TPG Asia, Malaysian healthcare group IHH and a consortium of Radiant Life Care and KKR.

Fortis posted a net loss of Rs 934 crore for FY18, largely due to impairment of its goodwill and inter corporate deposits worth over Rs440 crore that were made despite management objections, the company told the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

ET reported on June 28 that it was former Fortis promoter Malvinder Singh who had authorised the diversion of these funds to three entities found to be linked to himself and his brother, Shivinder Singh.