Ding ding! Round two under way for $500 million-plus Cura auction

afr.com:

Frankfurt-listed healthcare giant Fresenius Medical Care and Citi are seeking to make first-round bidders stand behind their offers as the auction for the $500-million-plus Cura Day Hospitals enters round two.

Street Talk understands prospective acquirers have been asked to reconfirm indicative offers to sell-side adviser Citi by Friday. Sources said parties were bidding with more diligence this time round, coming off management presentations last week.

Cura Day Hospitals has seen its fair share of ownership changes in its 15-year-long life. 

Round one was thick with dealmakers from buyout firms and core-plus infrastructure funds, with at least half a dozen parties lobbing non-binding indicative bids in late September.

Lower operating costs, a fragmented industry and interest from core-plus infrastructure funds have meant high double-digit sales multiples are on the table. That would equate to a payday north of $500 million for Fresenius.

Sydney private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners, piloted by David Brown and Shannon Wolfers, is still in the waiting room, as is Swiss private equity firm Partners Group and London-listed buyout giant Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), with Sydney-based managing director James Giannas leading the charge.

ASX-listed Ramsay Health Care remains close to the action after putting in a first-round offer, as revealed by this column. That said, sources noted the private hospital operator looks at plenty of deals and isn’t likely to get into a sword fight with overzealous private equity if it comes to that.

Queensland-based Cura was founded in 2008 by doctors and management, with private equity investor Archer Capital as a shareholder. The company owns day surgeries, eye surgeries and