NMC held talks to raise €200m in off-balance sheet debt to fund growth | Financial Times

NMC held talks to raise €200m in off-balance sheet debt to fund growth | Financial Times:

NMC Health has held talks to raise hundreds of millions of dollars of off-balance sheet debt to fund new hospitals, despite the FTSE 100 healthcare provider having faced increased scrutiny from short-sellers over the scale of its borrowing.

The Middle Eastern healthcare group, which is controlled by a small group of United Arab Emirates-based billionaires, was previously one of the star performers on the London stock market with its shares starting the year up more than 1,000 per cent from its 2012 initial public offering.

But the company’s shares dropped as much as 42 per cent on Tuesday after short-seller Muddy Waters raised “serious doubts” about NMC’s finances in a 34-page report, taking more than £2.3bn off its market value.

The Abu Dhabi-based company has faced mounting questions from analysts, investors and short-sellers this year about its apparent use of off-balance sheet financing techniques, which do not count to its official debt levels. It is one of the most heavily shorted stocks in the FTSE 100, with about a quarter of its free float out on loan for use by hedge funds.