UAE’s Abraaj Exits Investment In Filipino Hospital

Investment group Abraaj has announced its full exit from a tertiary medical hospital Daniel O. Mercado Centre (DMCC) in the Philippines.

The firm’s exit was executed through a buy-back arrangement with the Mercado family. The company did not specify a reason for its exit and financial details were also not disclosed.

Abraaj had invested through one of its funds in DMCC in September 2010 and was the only institutional investor alongside the Mercado family.

With the funds invested by Abraaj, DMCC constructed the Mercado Ambulatory and Surgical Centre (MASCI), a diagnostic and outpatient facility. The improvements helped DMCC expand market reach with its outpatient census increasing by 19.5 per cent in 2012.

In MASCI, outpatient census grew by 41.1 per cent with outpatient surgical procedures growing 99.1 per cent last year compared to 2011.

Before its exit, Abraaj also helped to identify and recruit a new chief financial officer for DMCC.

“This was an attractive investment opportunity for us to make in a growing sector where demand for beds far outweighed supply, with the potential to support a highly experienced management team and scale a well-established, multi-credited hospital,” said Danny Lizares, managing director and country head Philippines, The Abraaj Group.

“We succeeded in our aim to further facilitate the provision of quality healthcare for the mass market, offering medical services at competitive prices.”

Abraaj has recently exited other healthcare businesses in the South Asia region including Vejthani Hospital in Bangkok and Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare. The company has also been announcing new investments in the healthcare sector.

Earlier this year, Abraaj, in partnership with UK-based finance body CDC, jointly invested $17.5 million in the Indian healthcare chain Rainbow Hospitals.

The firm also recently announced an investment in Steripharma, a Moroccan pharmaceutical company.