ACL shareholder likes Healius takeover thinking

Australian Clinical Labs’ third-largest shareholder has given its blessing to management’s pursuit of rival Healius in the face of mounting obstacles, increasing its stake in the diagnostic testing company on Tuesday. Boutique fund manager Ethical Partners, headed by former Perpetual deputy head of equities Nathan Parkin and ex-Macquarie Securities desk head Matthew Nacard, lifted its ownership in ACL to 8.7 per cent from 7.7 per cent. “We think the proposal makes a lot of commercial sense,” Parkin told Street Talk. “We think there’s up to a billion dollars of value to be released on the deal moving forward – that’s a difficult number to ignore.” Parkin argues the combined entity’s share price could be “north of $5 per share”. Both companies are currently trading between $3 and $3.50.

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