Shares in Spire Healthcare Group Plc (LSE:SPI) fell 18% to 156p after it revealed that takeover talks with both Bridgepoint and Triton have ended, dashing hopes of the £1 billion-plus deal that had sent shares surging at the end of last week.
The FTSE 250-listed private hospitals operator said its board "remains in discussions with other parties in relation to a potential sale of the company", though it cautioned there was no certainty a bid would emerge.
Spire, which runs nearly 40 private hospitals and more than 50 clinics and medical centres around the UK, put itself up for sale last autumn under pressure from shareholders frustrated by a stagnant share price, and remains in a formal Takeover Panel offer period.
Last week, it was reported that Bridgepoint, the private equity group that formerly owned Oasis Healthcare, was planning to make a bid, with an extension to the Takeover Panel's "put up or shut up" deadline considered likely.
Bridgepoint and rival buyout firm Triton were first identified as potential suitors in January, with several other parties also said to have expressed interest, though it remains unclear how many plan to table formal bids.
A price of 230p was mooted, a meaningful premium to last Thursday's closing price of 178p, though still short of the 250p-a-share bid from Ramsay Healthcare that shareholders rejected in 2021.