Buys Healthscope’s Canberra hospital for $251 million

The $8 billion private hospital giant Ramsay Health Care has emerged as the first beneficiary of the Healthscope collapse after announcing plans to acquire its Canberra hospital for $251 million.

“National Capital is expected to be in Ramsay’s Top 20 hospitals based on both revenue and profitability and is expected to be earnings per share (EPS) accretive in the first 12 months of ownership,” Ramsay Group chief executive Natalie Davis said in a statement to the ASX on Tuesday morning.

Canberra’s National Capital Private is one of four of Healthscope’s most valuable assets which have been put up for sale to the highest bidder as part of a plan for receivers to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for lenders, who are owed $1.7 billion.

Gold Coast Private is the other asset that could be sold off before Christmas with Queensland’s Mater Health expected to be announced as the buyer.

The other hospitals up for sale are Sydney’s Prince of Wales and Victoria’s Holmesglen Private.

Healthscope insiders have described it as a strategy of selling the crown jewels and hoping the remaining group of hospitals will still be viable. The fact that lenders are expected to receive as little as 50c for every dollar they are owed gives an indication of how little value is ascribed to dozens of Healthscope’s hospitals.

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The receivers from McGrathNicol are expected to turn their attention to these remaining 33 hospitals once the future of the most profitable operations are determined. They will have to decide whether to break up the group to get a better return for lenders, or keep it intact as a not-for-profit operator.

Earlier this month, the receivers from McGrathNicol rejected a proposal from Canada’s Northwest Healthcare to carve off the 12 hospitals where it acts as landlord as part of a deal with not-for-profit Calvary – which would be the new operator – in a deal worth $140 million.