The sale of KKR and GIC’s 80% stake in Philippines-based hospital group Metro Pacific Health (MPH) is now in its final stages, said Manuel Pangilinan, chairman at both MPH and Metro Pacific Investments (MPI).

MPI, which founded and owned MPH, sold 80% of its stake to KKR and GIC in 2019, per media reports at the time.

Along with its current 20% stake in the hospital group, MPI is aiming to buy another 30% stake to regain the control it ceded to KKR and GIC, as reported.

The vendor KKR is close to selecting the winning bidder soon, Pangilinan noted.

MPI is still among those that may acquire a part of the stake on offer, Pangilinan said on the sidelines of Philex Mining’s annual general meeting today (26 June). Philex is an affiliate of MPI.

Other bidders in fray include TPG and Blackstone. The deal may value MPH at over USD 3bn, according to a newswire report early this month.

While Pangilinan declined to comment if MPI has the right of first refusal over the said shares, he told Mergermarket that the conglomerate has “expressed our interest to acquire part of the stake.”

Mergermarket reported in April that the sale process was stalled as did not attract bids that met the sellers’ expectations. MPI formed an equity consortium with a Japanese partner to make a bid, with JP Morgan advising, as reported.

The sell side was expecting a valuation of 20x EV/EBITDA but initial offers were just within the range of 10x-15x, a source familiar with the situation said, without elaborating on the EBITDA numbers.

KKR did not respond to requests for comment.

Metro Pacific Investments is the country’s largest hospital operator with 27 private hospitals in its portfolio, according to its website.