Spire Healthcare delays vote on Ramsay Health takeover

On Monday, Ramsay sweetened its bid for its London-listed rival to 250p a share from 240p, noting that this would be its final offer, unless another company made a bid for Spire. The new offer represents a 30% premium to the closing share price of Spire the day before the initial bid was made.

Spire said the final offer was in the best interests of shareholders and unanimously recommended that they vote in favour at the Court Meeting and General Meeting, which had been due to be held on 12 July.

However, the company said on Wednesday that the meetings were being adjourned to 19 July as a number of investors had requested a short extension to the process to allow them to exercise voting rights.

Chair Ian Cheshire said: "The Spire board respects the views of all shareholders and it is incumbent on us to ensure the voting process is fair and open to all."

He added that it was the company’s responsibility "to ensure that as many shareholders as possible have the opportunity to express their views".

"We urge all shareholders to take advantage of this extension and remind them of the Spire board previous unanimous recommendation to vote in favour of the proposal from Ramsay."

The delay follows reports that shareholders Fidelity International and Toscafund Asset Management have rejected the final bid from Ramsay Health Care, arguing that it undervalues the business.

Last weekend, shareholder advisory group Glass Lewis put out a report urging Spire investors to reject Ramsay's 240p a share offer. It argued that Spire was well-placed to benefit from increased healthcare spending as the UK recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

At 1005 BST, Spire shares were down 3.1% at 230.63p.