Dubai’s biggest private healthcare provider, Emirates Healthcare Limited (EHL), has been taken over by the Mediclinic International, a South African firm, after buying out minority shareholders. Mediclinic International is South Africa’s second biggest private healthcare operator. It now owns 46.93% stake in the Emirates Healthcare Limited. The company had no stakes in Emirates Healthcare Limited prior to the stakes that it bought from General Electric (5.24 percent) and the Varkey Group (44.39 percent) in a deal estimated to be around US$224 million. The buyout is reported to be carried out through an equity contribution of $119.13 million and debt funding to be raised in Dubai through Standard Chartered.
The CEO of Mediclinic International, Danie Meintjes, said it will be an opportunity for the Emirates Healthcare “to benefit from the ongoing growth within the United Arab Emirates and surrounding regions”. He said the decision of the buyout was in concordance with their motives to “continue to invest in attractive growth and development opportunities across our operations in Southern Africa, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.”
C.N. Radhakrishnan, Senior Director Varkey Group and Chief Financial Officer and a Member on the Board of Emirates Healthcare praised the cooperation it has experienced with Mediclinic. He highlighted that the decision to quit the Healthcare system was strategic because they want “to focus and grow” their endeavors in the “education business at a faster pace globally.”
Emirates Healthcare Limited possesses the Welcare Hospital, The City Hospital, eight operational clinics in Dubai and a new one will be opened before the end of the year. Emirates Healthcare boasts of almost 1,900 staff and treats over 600,000 patients per annum.
UAE: Mediclinic takes over Emirates Healthcare
