London: NMC Health Plc, a UAE health-care company, is considering a counter-offer to Mediclinic International Ltd’ s takeover approach for Al Noor Hospitals Group Plc, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

NMC Health, the first Abu Dhabi-based company to list on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange, has reached out informally to Al Noor about a merger proposal, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. It’s not clear whether Al Noor, which has a market value of about £1.1 billion (Dh6.16 billion, $1.7 billion) and is also based in Abu Dhabi, is willing to engage in talks and there’s no guarantee that a transaction could take place, the people said. Al Noor is leaning toward accepting the Mediclinic proposal, one of the people said.

Representatives for Al Noor and NMC Health declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Mediclinic said she wasn’t immediately able to comment.

Al Noor and Johannesburg-based Mediclinic are in talks about a tie-up that would create the biggest supplier of private care in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with further operations in Europe and Southern Africa. The potential deal between the two private- hospital owners would involve the issue of new Al Noor shares to Mediclinic and be classified as a reverse takeover, Abu Dhabi- based Al Noor said in a statement on Monday.

Both NMC and Al Noor have sold shares in London to tap a wider pool of investors. Al Noor raised 1.27 billion dirhams ($346 million) in the UK capital in 2013, while NMC raised 749 million dirhams in 2012. Mediclinic would take a London listing if its acquisition of Al Noor is successful, the company said on Tuesday.

NMC’s biggest investor is Indian entrepreneur and 26 per cent shareholder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, who also bought a controlling stake in Travelex Holdings Ltd. last year. NMC owns and operates hospitals in Dubai and owns pharmacies across the UAE.

Al Noor shares advanced more than 16 per cent across two days when the interest from Mediclinic was made public, and traded 0.7 per cent lower at 973 pence as of 1:43pm in London on Friday. NMC declined 0.4 per cent to 828 pence, valuing the company at 1.5 billion pounds. Mediclinic gained 0.8 per cent to 120.57 rand as of 2:44pm in Johannesburg, valuing the South African company at 118 billion rand ($8.9 billion).