Fosun's Portuguese subsidiary to bid for ES Saude

LISBON - Fidelidade, the Portuguese insurance arm of China's Fosun International, is planning to launch a counter offer for Portuguese healthcare services company Espirito Santo Saude (ES Saude), according to local media reports.

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The offer would be the third bid to take over the Espirito Santo Saude, of the beleaguered Espirito Santo Group, after Mexican group Angeles and Portugal's Jose de Mello Saude also launched bids.

The counter offer by Fidelidade will, according to market rules, have to be for a minimum of 4.59 euros per share as the current highest offer, from Angeles, is of 4.4 euros per share.

The other offer on the table is for 4.3 euros per share from ES Saude's local rival Jose de Mello Saude, although local press reports Monday suggested this offer would be raised following Angeles' announcement of a revised price for its initial bid.

ES Saude's shares ended Monday's trading at 4.7 euros per share, or 4 percent more than the current highest offer suggesting the market expects higher bids for the company.

ES Saude is 51 percent owned by Luxembourg-based Espirito Santo Group, which filed for creditor protection in July following detection of accounting irregularities. The Espirito Santo Group's financial troubles led to a state-backed 3.9 billion euro bailout of its Portuguese banking arm Banco Espirito Santo in August.

Fosun International acquired Fidelidade, Portugal's largest insurance company, as part of a winning bid for 80 percent of Portuguese state-owned insurer Caixa Seguros in January of this year. The sale was part of the government's privatization program agreed as part of a three-year financial bailout of the Portuguese economy.