News: VRT UPDATE 1-Australia's Virtus Health gets $439 mln buyout bid from PE firm CapVest Partners

(Adds details of offer, background, shares)

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Australian healthcare firm Virtus Health Ltd (VRT) said on Thursday it received a A$608.9 million ($439.56 million) buyout proposal from European private equity firm CapVest Partners.

The offer - of A$7.60 per share in cash - was at a premium of 13.6% to Virtus' closing price on Wednesday.

Last month, another private equity firm BGH Capital proposed a A$607.3 million buyout offer for Virtus.

The company said CapVest's proposal was superior to that of BGH, and it had agreed to provide CapVest with a period to conduct exclusive due diligence to facilitate development of the binding offer.

Both CapVest and BGH did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment.

Virtus also added that it agreed to pay a fee of A$2 million to CapVest in certain circumstances, including if Virtus elects not to proceed with the binding offer.

Shares of Virtus Health, which has 44 fertility clinics and seven day hospitals across five countries, had risen nearly 30% in 2021 and was paused from trading on Thursday.

($1 = 1.3852 Australian dollars)