KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 11): IHH Healthcare Bhd (KL:IHH) maintained that it suffered losses after a dispute between Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd and Fortis Healthcare Ltd’s former promoters delayed the mandatory tender offer linked to its acquisition of the Indian hospital group, despite IHH not being a party to the dispute.
The Tokyo District Court on Thursday dismissed a ¥200 billion (about RM5.3 billion) damages claim brought by IHH’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary Northern TK Venture Pte Ltd (NTK) against Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo.
“IHH’s position is that it has suffered losses as a result of delays in obtaining the required mandatory tender offer approvals for its acquisition of Fortis Healthcare amid the dispute between Daiichi Sankyo and its judgement debtors, to which IHH is an unrelated party,” the group said in a statement on Friday.
IHH also defended the manner in which it acquired Fortis in 2018, saying the transaction was conducted through a “transparent, widely public and fully regulated process” and received the necessary corporate, shareholder and regulatory approvals.
The investment involved a preferential allotment of newly issued Fortis shares amounting to 4,000 crore rupees (about RM1.7 billion), alongside a mandatory tender offer to public shareholders, IHH said.
The healthcare group stressed that no secondary shares were acquired from Fortis’ former promoters and no payments were made to them.
NTK, meanwhile, said it disagreed with the Tokyo court’s decision and remained confident in the merits of its case.
The subsidiary is reviewing the judgement with its legal counsel and evaluating its legal options to pursue the relief it believes is warranted.
“NTK remains committed to vigorously protecting its rights and interests through every appropriate legal channel,” IHH said.
The dispute between IHH and Daiichi dates back to 2018, when IHH, through NTK, acquired a 31.1% stake in Fortis through a preferential allotment of new shares, triggering mandatory open offers for an additional 26% stake in Fortis and its subsidiary Fortis Malar Hospitals.
The open offers were subsequently held up after Daiichi Sankyo took legal action in India in connection with its long-running dispute with Fortis’ former promoters, brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.
Daiichi Sankyo had won an arbitration award against the brothers over its 2008 acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories and was seeking to enforce the award in India.
NTK alleged that Daiichi Sankyo’s actions prevented it from completing the open offers and caused it financial losses, prompting the subsidiary to sue Daiichi Sankyo in the Tokyo District Court in 2023, initially seeking ¥20 billion in damages.
NTK raised the claim to about ¥200 billion in May 2025 based on an expert report assessing potential losses under three scenarios in which the open offers had proceeded without Daiichi Sankyo’s alleged interference.
The revised claim also included compensation for alleged defamation and reputational harm.
On Thursday, the Tokyo District Court dismissed all of NTK’s claims and ordered it to bear the litigation costs.
On Friday, IHH said the long-pending mandatory tender offer process received the necessary approvals last year, and reiterated that India remains a key strategic market for the group.
“We are committed to increasing our investment in the country,” IHH said.
Shares of IHH fell 24 sen or 3.04% to RM7.65 on Friday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM67.6 billion.