Healthscope kicks off lender negotiations | BHJ splashes out on Staughton pet food biz | NextDC rides to Sovereign Cloud rescue

Good evening,

One of the country’s largest private hospital groups has begun discussing a restructuring plan with its lenders as it battles shrinking insurance payouts.

Street Talk understands Healthscope‘s C-suite, led by boss Greg Horan, convened a group call with its lender syndicate on Friday to discuss the unfolding restructure. Horan was flanked by MA Moelis’ bankers, whose appointment was revealed by this column on Wednesday.

Sources said Horan and his advisers are proposing a reshuffle of Healthscope’s portfolio of hospitals, under a new corporate structure. The task will require lining up the group’s existing debt facilities against the new clubbing of assets, which will have to be blessed by banks and credit funds in the debt stack.

Of note, it is not pursuing an asset sale.

Brookfield plucked Healthscope off the ASX in early 2019 for $4.4 billion, beating a consortium bid from Melbourne’s BGH Capital.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

Should Seven succeed in buying Boral, it would mark the end of years of speculation on the building materials group’s fate. And shareholders are not waiting around for its board to dispatch the target statement, due this week, instead selling into the rally for a quick payday

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