Fresenius delays publishing full Rhoen takeover bid

FRANKFURT May 18 (Reuters) - Fresenius postponed the publication of its full takeover offer for German hospital operator Rhoen-Klinikum until next week, citing prolonged consultations with regulators.

The assessment and approval procedures with German financial watchdog BaFin were still ongoing, a Fresenius spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

German healthcare conglomerate Fresenius had said it would likely put forth the detailed takeover offer on Friday, having filed the documents with BaFin on May 4.

The publication would mark the beginning of the offer period, which will be closely followed because Fresenius needs 90 percent shareholder approval for its 22.50 euros per share cash offer.

That is a premium of 52 percent over the last close before the takeover plans were made public.

Fresenius last month unveiled plans to take over Rhoen for 3.1 billion euros ($3.94 billion), which would make it by far the largest private-sector operator of German hospitals.

Rhoen-Klinikum's founder and chairman Eugen Muench, who controls 12.45 percent of the group's shares, supports the transaction but Rhoen's management has said it would first have to assess the full offer before passing judgment. ($1=0.7869 euros) (Reporting by Andreas Kroener; Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)