London-listed hospital group Mediclinic accepts £3.7bn offer

London-listed private hospital group Mediclinic has accepted a £3.7bn cash offer from a consortium of its biggest shareholder and a shipping group.

Mediclinic is based in South Africa but also operates in Switzerland, Namibia and the United Arab Emirates. It also owns 29.7 per cent of Spire Healthcare, the UK-based private health group.

The deal comes after an earlier offer of £3.4bn was rejected in June by Mediclinic. The latest 504p a share offer is pitched at a 35 per cent premium to the price before the initial proposal was made in late May.

Mediclinic’s shares rose 2 per cent to 486p in early trading on Thursday.

The buyers are Remgro, the investment vehicle of the Rupert family which already owns a 45 per cent stake, and Mediterranean Shipping Company, a container shipping group. The two will each own 50 per cent of Mediclinic under the terms of the deal.

Remgro’s investments range from healthcare and infrastructure to financial services and media.