SEBI clears IHH Healthcare’s long-stalled 26.1% Fortis open offer after seven years

The long-delayed open offer by IHH Healthcare Berhad for a 26.1% stake in Fortis Healthcare has finally received the nod from India’s capital market regulator SEBI, nearly seven years after the Malaysian firm initially acquired a 31.1% stake in the Indian hospital chain, according to a regulatory filing submitted on Friday.

SEBI, in its letter dated October 1, 2025, has granted approval to IHH to move forward with the open offer for Fortis Healthcare as well as its subsidiary Fortis Malar Hospitals, the Malaysian company stated in a filing to the Malaysian Stock Exchange. Fortis Healthcare also shared the update on the BSE platform.

IHH’s plan for the open offer had been stalled due to prolonged legal disputes, including at the Supreme Court, between Daiichi Sankyo and the former promoters of Fortis Healthcare, the Singh Brothers — Malvinder and Shivinder. The Japanese company had sought to recover ₹3,500 crore awarded by a Singapore arbitral tribunal in a case related to the acquisition of the erstwhile Ranbaxy.

In September 2022, IHH indicated that the Supreme Court ruling had cleared the path for the open offer, though the execution was contingent on SEBI’s approval.

The origins of the dispute trace back to 2018, when IHH Healthcare secured a ₹4,000-crore deal to acquire a 31.1% stake in Fortis Healthcare, outperforming rival bids, including one from the Manipal-TPG consortium. Following this, IHH had planned an open offer for an additional 26% stake in Fortis, scheduled to run from December 18, 2018, to January 1, 2019, involving a total consideration of ₹3,300 crore.

However, in December 2018, the Supreme Court imposed a status quo on the sale of controlling stakes in Fortis Healthcare to IHH by the former Ranbaxy promoters, Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, following a plea from Daiichi Sankyo. This order effectively put the open offer on hold, delaying the transaction for several years.

Daiichi Sankyo had been pursuing enforcement of a foreign arbitral award issued in Singapore on April 29, 2016, amounting to ₹3,600 crore in its favour, against 20 respondents, including Malvinder Mohan Singh, Director of Oscar Investments Ltd and RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, and Shivinder Mohan Singh, Director of Oscar Investments Ltd.

The legal tussle had kept the former promoters of Fortis Healthcare entangled in court proceedings as Daiichi challenged the Fortis-IHH share acquisition, seeking recovery of the arbitration award, which had been a key hurdle delaying the completion of IHH’s open offer.

This approval by SEBI now clears the way for IHH to proceed with acquiring the additional 26.1% stake, concluding a protracted seven-year wait since the initial acquisition and legal battles surrounding the Fortis-IHH deal.

Fortis Healthcare is one of India’s leading private hospital chains, with a nationwide network of hospitals and a strong presence in specialty and multi-specialty care. IHH Healthcare Berhad, based in Malaysia, is a global healthcare provider with operations spanning Asia, including hospitals in India, Singapore, and Malaysia, focusing on expanding its footprint in the Indian healthcare sector.