UAE’s NMC Health to build, acquire four Saudi hospitals

UAE-based NMC Health has announced the receiving of regulatory approval for a long-term care facility in Jeddah and plans to acquire and build three other hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

NMC said the approval for the Chronic Care Specialty Medical Centre (CCSMC) made it one of the first foreign entrants to the Saudi Arabian medical sector.

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The company, which recently entered London’s FTSE 100 blue chip index, is pursuing expansion in long-term care, home health and fertility in tier one Saudi cities and more general verticals in tier two cities.

It will also seek to participate in Saudi government privatisation efforts in the sector including operation and management opportunities, NMC said.

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The CCSMC facility initiated operations with 50 beds and has the capacity for 220. The migration of patients will begin on September 26 with full capacity projected by the first half of 2019.

In addition, NMC said it had reacehd agreements to acquire multi-specialty hospitals in each of the kingdom’s northwestern and southern regions for an aggregate cost of $40m.

These include a 60 per cent stake in a new 100-bed facility in Najran that has room for expansion. The acquisition is expected to close this year.

It has also agreed to acquire a 60-bed hospital in Ha’il with potential expansion land for 40 additional beds and is planning a greenfield hospital in Al Khobar with 170 acute care beds. This is expected to be operational by the first half of 2019.

“With a total licensed capacity now at about 700 beds, we see the kingdom as an important part of NMC’s growth strategy and will continue to identify areas in which we can fill gaps in the country’s healthcare offerings,” said Prasanth Manghat, CEO of NMC Health.

NMC said the new facilities and acquisitions were expected to positively impact on EBITDA from 2018 onwards.

“Both acquisitions, as well as the greenfield project in Khobar, will be funded through a combination of cash on the balance sheet and utilisation of available debt facilities,” it added.