Templeton trims Parkway Holdings stake

US fund manager Templeton has reduced its stake in Parkway Holdings, one of Southeast Asia's leading healthcare providers, to 4.97 per cent, over the past year.

Templeton held a 5.04 per cent stake in Parkway Holdings a year ago.
    
Templeton, one of Parkway Holdings' largest institutional investors, sold 3,56,937 shares between 8 July 2009 and 14 July 2010, Parkway Holdings said in a filing with the Singapore Stock Exchange today.
    
The filing, however, did not disclose the name of the buyer of the stake sold by Templeton.
    
Parkway Holdings is under a long-drawn takeover battle between India's Fortis Healthcare and Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah.
    
Fortis has 25.37 per cent stake in Parkway while Khazanah has 23.32 per cent take. The rest is held by independent investors.

Fortis has offered to acquire the whole of Parkway for around $2.3 billion while Khazanah had offered to raise its stake to 51.5 per cent for $835 million.
    
Parkway Holdings Limited, owns a network of 16 hospitals with more than 3,400 beds across Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, India and China. In Singapore, the Group owns Parkway Group Healthcare Pte Ltd and Parkway Hospitals Singapore Pte Ltd, which operates three of Singapore's premier healthcare providers: Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth and Parkway East Hospitals. The group also owns Parkway Shenton Pte Ltd, a major provider of primary healthcare services; Medi-Rad Associates Ltd, a leading radiology services provider; and Parkway Laboratory Services Ltd, a major provider of laboratory services.

In addition, Parkway Trust Management Limited provides management services to Parkway Life REIT, while Parkway Education Pte Ltd offers healthcare education through Parkway College of Nursing and Allied Health. The group also operates 37 ParkwayHealth Patient Assistance Centres (PPAC) across the globe.