The acquisition by PureHealth Holding of a majority stake in private hospital group Hellenic Healthcare Group (HHG) from CVC Capital Partners, a deal that BnB Daily had written about on 7/10, 9/10, and 20/1, changes the data in the domestic healthcare market.

The HHG group includes, among others:

• The Health.
• The Metropolitan General
• The Metropolitan HospitalThe Metropolitan General Hospital

The deal values HHG at around $2.3bn, and the UAE company, controlled by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, will acquire a 60% stake. CVC will retain a 35% stake, while the Greek company's founder will keep the remaining 5%.

STRENGTHENING THE PRESENCE IN EUROPE

Shaista Asif, Group CEO at PureHealth, commented that "this acquisition represents a significant milestone in PureHealth's strategic expansion, strengthening our presence in Europe and further reinforcing our position as a leader in the healthcare sector. The integration of HHG into our portfolio not only strengthens our position in Europe but also creates significant value for our group, contributing to revenue diversification, driving operational synergies and enhancing our financial performance."

THE REASONS BEHIND THE DEAL

As market players with knowledge of the pharma-hospital market tell BnB Daily, 4 main reasons why this deal went ahead are as follows:

• First, ADQ, the investment fund that controls the company that made the acquisition, wants to diversify from the energy market, especially oil. In essence, it is trying to reduce risk through portfolio diversification.
• Secondly, CVC as a fund invests with a specific time horizon and tries to generate capital gains from its investments. The deal therefore came at a time when the fund wanted to partially divest from the domestic market
• Thirdly, PureHealth wants 50% of its turnover to come from markets outside the Arab Emirates and has recently gone through a barrage of acquisitions. Such as in 2023 with Britain's Circle Health Group, as well as acquiring a minority stake in US-based Ardent Health Services 
  Fourth, more generally, in Abu Dhabi there is a patchwork effort to build infrastructure and funds in the healthcare industry

THE TWO COMPANIES

The company, which has a market capitalisation of about $11 billion, operates more than 100 hospitals and more than 300 clinics, with more than 56,000 employees. HHG operates approximately 10 hospitals and 16 diagnostic centers throughout Greece and Cyprus, with a capacity of more than 1,600 beds, which will be integrated into PureHealth's network once the deal is completed. PureHealth, which raised about $986 million from an IPO in 2023, has also been considering a potential acquisition of hospital-based NMC Healthcare.

OVERSEAS EXPANSION

In addition to PureHealth, however, M42 is also located in the emirate. This is a company backed by Mubadala Investment and AI firm G42, which is looking to expand into Europe, Latin America and Asia.