Healthscope gets new $4.5b Brookfield offer

The battle for Australia's second-largest private hospital operator entered round two on Monday after Healthscope rebuffed an offer from BGH Capital and opened its books to a sweetened offer worth up to $4.5 billion from Canada's Brookfield Asset Management.

The takeover battle pitches former TPG Australian head and Melbourne financial establishment figure Ben Gray against the Canadian giant's private equity arm, whose Asia Pacific ambitions are managed by former Lendlease and Babcock & Brown executive Len Chersky in Sydney.