IHH unit raises claim against Daiichi Sankyo to over RM5.7b for blocking Fortis India share offer

Thursday 17 Sep 2026

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): IHH Healthcare Bhd (KL:IHH) on Tuesday announced that its Singapore unit, Northern TK Venture (NTK), has increased its damage claim against Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd to over ¥200 billion (about RM5.7 billion) for blocking its attempt to make an open offer for shares in India’s Fortis Healthcare and its subsidiary, Fortis Malar Hospitals

In a statement, IHH announced on the stock exchanges in Malaysia and Singapore that an application has been filed with the Tokyo District Court to amend the ongoing damage claim against Daiichi Sankyo.

The amount is tenfold the original ¥20 billion in damages sought and the top side of the damages ascertained from an expert report filed by NTK with the court in February 2025.

NTK's expert report, filed in February 2025, assessed damages in three possible scenarios if the deal had gone through, with damages ranging from ¥7.8 billion (about RM200 million) to ¥199.8 billion (about RM5.7 billion).

IHH said NTK calculated the damages based on three possible scenarios and added compensation for defamation and reputational harm, bringing the total to ¥200 billion, excluding interest.

The lawsuit revolves around an open offer triggered when IHH won a bid to buy a 31.1% stake in FHL for 40 billion Indian rupees. NTK, receiving preferential shares from FHL, was legally required to make an offer to buy shares from FHL's public shareholders as required by Indian law.

NTK claims Daiichi Sankyo blocked this offer by obtaining a Supreme Court order to maintain status quo at FHL while it was involved in a long-standing legal dispute with the Singh Brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, over its acquisition of an Indian pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited.

The Singh brothers founded the Fortis group but lost control in 2017-2018 amid allegations that they siphoned funds from the healthcare group.

Although the Indian Supreme Court lifted the order in 2022, Daiichi Sankyo later warned the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) that it would take legal action if the NTK offer moved forward without approval from the Delhi High Court.

IHH said NTK and IHH are not involved in Daiichi Sankyo’s case with the Singh Brothers, but Daiichi Sankyo wrongly linked them to the dispute, preventing NTK from completing the open offer to-date.

NTK says this caused major financial harm, including a frozen deposit of ¥60.2 billion and lost profits from rising share value and missed dividends it would have earned if the acquisition had been completed through the open offer.

IHH said NTK reserves the right to increase the damages claimed against Daiichi Sankyo in the future, as their actions are still causing harm to NTK.

The next hearing at the preparatory proceedings, which is closed to the public before the Tokyo District Court, is scheduled for July 11, 2025.

IHH in the statement said its investment in Fortis made it a shareholder in India's second-largest private hospital network, aligning with its goal to make India one of its core markets, alongside Malaysia, Singapore and Türkiye

It said Fortis has strong expansion potential with existing infrastructure, enabling fast, cost-effective growth.

IHH plans to boost Fortis’ success using its expertise, financial strength and synergies like cost savings, group procurement and cross-selling under the IHH brand.

IHH is a global healthcare network with over 140 facilities in 10 countries, including more than 80 hospitals, clinics and ambulatory care centres across Asia and Europe.

Its share price closed almost flat at RM6.95 on Tuesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM61.3 billion. Its stock has fallen 4.7% year to date.

Edited ByPresenna Nambiar

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