What would have been Australia's biggest business deal of the year is officially dead, after being on shaky ground for awhile.
A consortium led by US private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had offered $20 billion for Ramsay Health Care, Australia's largest private hospital chain.
But the group backed away from its original $88-per-share offer last month after Ramsay's 2021/22 results showed a 21 per cent drop in earnings, to $891.2 million.
There had been further talks lately but the ASX50 component said in a statement to the ASX on Monday that the consortium wasn't able to provide a new proposal at this time.
"While the Ramsay Board remains open to engaging in relation to a change of control proposal that provides appropriate value for shareholders and has sufficient certainty of completion in a reasonable timeframe, it is apparent that this is unlikely to be forthcoming in the near future," Ramsay said in a statement.
"The Ramsay Board and the Consortium have mutually agreed to terminate discussions."
Ramsay owns 73 private hospitals, clinics and day surgery units in Australia, admitting more than 1 million patients and employing 31,000 people. It operates in nine other countries.
At 1.51pm AEST, Ramsay shares were down 2.5 per cent to $58.99.
