KKR lobs $20 billion-plus bid for Ramsay, page-35

So Australian hospital operators can go abroad (RHC has made acquisitions of hospitals in France, the UK, Asia) to do business against incumbent hospital operators there, but their Australian business needs to be afforded government protection against others doing the exact same thing?

Besides, how does a new owner of RHC operations "kill competition"in the hospital sector where the current owners have not done so?

For starters, there is a fundamental shortage of hospital capacity in a country like Australia with its ageing demographics. Second, hospital patronage is very localised. No one attends a hospital 100km away because it is perceived to be cheaper when the same level of treatment and can be obtained at the local hospital.

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