Healthscope, Australia’s second-largest hospital operator, will transfer board control to lenders under a proposal it says will enable the troubled group to remain solvent as it seeks a new owner for its network of 38 hospitals.
The company’s bid to avoid going into receivership and closing hospitals came after Healthscope’s lenders rejected a proposal to extend a temporary freeze on interest payments to allow it more time to recapitalise the business.
Healthscope said on Monday that it had invited lenders to appoint their nominees to the board in a move it said would enable a “solvent restructure” and avoid disrupting hospitals.
The move marks the end of Brookfield Asset Management’s ownership of the hospital operator. Talks are under way with potential buyers for the business, which has $1.6 billion in debt.
Sources close to the situation, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said that Healthscope and Brookfield had received interest from buyers for the business as a whole and for individual hospitals.
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