Shares of Fortis Healthcare nosedived over 14 per cent on Friday after the Supreme Court today ordered a status quo on sale of the hospital chain company to Malaysian group IHH Healthcare Berhad.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Friday announced the order while hearing a petition filed by Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, who alleged that former promoters, Malvdinder and Shivinder Singh, violated the Delhi High Court's orders to pay the drugmaker, according to media reports.
Weighed down by the development, shares of Fortis Healthcare declined as much as 14.28 per cent to touch an intra-day low of Rs 130.20 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Earlier today, Fortis Healthcare shares opened higher at Rs 153.45 against previous closing price of Rs 151.90.
On the National Stock Exchange, stocks of the company were trading at Rs 139.55, down 7.95 per cent.
The exchange has also sought clarification from Fortis Healthcare, with reference to the news.
In July this year, the board of Fortis Healthcare had approved a Rs 4,000-crore offer from IHH Healthcare for buying 31.1 per cent stake in it. The proposal had valued the cash-strapped firm at Rs 8,880 crore. Soon after the deal announcement, Daiichi Sankyo filed a petition in the Delhi high court to block the deal while it enforced an arbitration award against the former promoters, the Singh brothers.
On October 31, the Competition watchdog Competition Commission of India had approved the acquisition of Fortis Healthcare Ltd and Fortis Malar Hospital Ltd by Northern TK Venture Pte Ltd.
Meanwhile, the benchmark index BSE Sensex was trading 8.94 points higher at 35,938.58, amid weakness in Asian markets due to weak Chinese data and global growth risks.