(Bloomberg) -- PureHealth Holding PJSC, a health-care group controlled by Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ, is considering a potential acquisition of hospital operator NMC Healthcare, according to people familiar with the matter.
PureHealth, which listed last year on the local bourse, is in the early stages of studying a potential bid for NMC, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Any deal could value the hospital chain at a few billion dollars, according to the people.
Other suitors could also emerge, the people said. NMC said in June it has appointed Rothschild & Co. to review strategic alternatives for its shareholders including a potential sale or listing. The move comes after the group’s main operating entities emerged from administration in 2022.
NMC is one of the largest private health providers in the United Arab Emirates, operating about 85 medical facilities including community clinics, day surgery centers and fertility clinics. David Hadley, the former Middle East head of Mediclinic Group, took over as chief executive officer at NMC in early 2023.
Abu Dhabi-based NMC was once listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a member of the FTSE 100 index. It collapsed in 2019 after revealing that it had more than $4 billion of undisclosed borrowings. The business is now majority-owned by its creditors after it completed a restructuring process.
Deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, according to the people. Spokespeople for PureHealth and NMC declined to comment. A representative for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, which was one of NMC’s main creditors, also declined to comment.
NMC founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty has said he was the victim of fraud at his own firm because it was perpetrated behind his back by a former executive and his associates. Prasanth Manghat, NMC’s former chief executive officer, has denied Shetty’s claims.
Consolidation Mode
Health care is among the key industries where the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi is looking at deals. M42, which was established through the combination of the health-care assets of two of Abu Dhabi’s investment firms last year, is looking at possible acquisitions and expansion of its operations into Europe, Latin America and Asia, Chief Executive Officer Hasan Jasem Al Nowais said in a recent interview.
PureHealth, which has a market value of $10.3 billion, holds a portfolio of more than 10 companies across the UAE, as well as Circle Health Group in the UK and Ardent Health Services in the US. The company operates more than 100 hospitals and over 300 clinics with 56,000-plus employees, its website shows. It also offers health insurance and runs more than 147 laboratories.
The firm raised about 3.62 billion dirhams ($986 million) in an initial public offering last year. Ahead of the listing, several companies including Abu Dhabi Health Services Co., known as SEHA, and National Health Insurance Co., known as Daman, were merged into PureHealth by ADQ.
ADQ has separately been consolidating some of its pharmaceutical assets to create one of the region’s largest life sciences firms, with operations across four continents. It is combining Egypt’s Amoun Pharmaceutical Co., Switzerland’s Acino International and Turkey’s Birgi Mefar Group under a single holding company called Arcera, it said in April.
--With assistance from Adveith Nair and Laura Gardner Cuesta.
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