Mubadala Health buys UEMedical stake, joins Olive Rock, Cerberus

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. is enlarging its regional footprint in the health-care sector with the purchase of a 60 per cent stake in UEMedical, an operator of medical facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The $243bn wealth fund’s health-care subsidiary said it’s buying the stake in United Eastern Medical Services, also known as UEMedical, from Saudi private equity group Jadwa Investment and United Eastern Group, according to a statement on Wednesday. Mubadala Health was advised by Rothschild & Co., according to its chief executive officer, Hasan Jasem Al Nowais.

Financial details of the transaction, which is expected to close by September, weren’t disclosed. UEMedical could be valued at at least $800m if the deal proceeds, people told Bloomberg last year.

An affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP, which globally manages around $55bn in assets, and Abu Dhabi-based Olive Rock Partners acquired a stake in UEMedical earlier this month.

Part of Mubadala’s mandate is to assist in diversifying Abu Dhabi’s oil-reliant economy but also to help develop the country’s medical infrastructure so that citizens no longer have to travel abroad to receive treatment. These efforts culminated in the opening in 2015 of a massive branch of the Cleveland Clinic in the country’s capital.

The Middle East’s health-care sector has also been expanding rapidly as hospital operators try to keep up with growing populations.

UEMedical owns and operates several hospitals and clinics in specialty sectors such as fertility and dermatology. Combined with Mubadala Health’s network, the entity will have 10,000 caregivers offering more than 100 types of medical services across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“This acquisition enhances Mubadala Health’s network in the UAE and the wider GCC region, while demonstrating our unwavering commitment to transforming the regional health-care landscape by delivering a full range of health-care services covering every phase of a patient’s life,” said Al Nowais.

Asked whether Mubadala Health intends to float UEMedical on the stock market in the future, he said “all options are on the table at this moment.”

“With that being said, given that our main shareholder is the government of Abu Dhabi, our strategic presence in Abu Dhabi is going to be crucial,” Al Nowais said. “Now whether that means it’s 100 per cent owned by Mubadala or not, that is a separate conversation that will be held once the right time comes.”