Daiichi moves Delhi HC to stop sale of Fortis Healthcare to Manipal Hospital

The legal battle between Daiichi and former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh does not seem to be reaching an end. The Japanese drug maker has now approached the Delhi High Court to stop the sale of Fortis Healthcare to Manipal Health Enterprises..The reason being Daiichi wants its Rs. 3,500 crore arbitration award to be paid by Singh brothers..Daiichi-Sankyo had filed for the execution of the High Court’s order, which had allowed its petition seeking enforcement of the 3,500 crore foreign arbitral award passed in 2016, against the Singh Brothers..Last month, the Court had ordered the attachment the assets of two companies Oscar Investments Ltd and RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, promoted by the Singh brothers. However, Daiichi has now moved an application to stop the sale of Fortis Healthcare..Fortis Healthcare was impleaded as a party to the application. The Singh Brothers and promoter groups currently hold less than 1% in Fortis Healthcare compared with 34.43% in December 2017 as most of their holdings were pledged to the banks..It is to be noted that Fortis Healthcare was never a party to the foreign arbitration between Daiichi and Singh Brothers. It is a downstream company of Fortis Healthcare Holding Pvt Limited..Representing Daiichi, Senior Advocate Arvind Nigam broadly stated that any transaction, which reduces the value of Fortis Healthcare, should not be allowed as it could affect the enforcement of the arbitral award..Appearing for Fortis Healthcare, Senior Advocate P Chidambaram informed the court that Fortis Healthcare was not a party in the suit and no order can be passed against it. He also argued that a sale could not be effected without prior approval of the shareholders as well as SEBI and NCLT..Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar represented the Singh Brothers..The Single Judge Bench of Justice Jayant Nath asked Fortis Healthcare to file its reply to the application and also directed the Singh Brothers to submit an affidavit disclosing the unencumbered shares held by Fortis Healthcare Holding in Fortis Healthcare..The matter will next be heard on April 25