ADQ subsidiary PureHealth is acquiring UK-based Circle Health Group for US$1.2 billion in what is a major step forward for the platform’s global expansion.
With revenues totalling an estimated US$1.3 billion in 2022, Circle operates the UK’s biggest network of private hospitals, with 54 sites. PureHealth has a network of more than 25 hospitals in the UAE, but the addition of Circle and Ardent to its portfolio significantly boosts its profile. The acquisition comes after PureHealth invested US$490 million in the US’s Ardent Health Services.
PureHealth stated, “benefits include the expansion of clinical knowledge and delivery of new medical techniques through enhanced collaboration between medical professionals, as well as the use of cutting-edge technologies and provision of broadened treatment options for patients in the UAE.”
Its CEO Farhan Malik added, “PureHealth, as the region’s largest healthcare group, is well-positioned to make significant contributions to the improvement of healthcare systems and access to world-class medical services in the UAE and beyond.”
Faced with a range of inter-related sectors, from drug discovery to care provision, ADQ is set to develop strategies to take advantage of changing demand dynamics. Healthcare will add impetus to either total portfolio management or creating integrated subsidiaries, that can deploy capital across asset classes to adapt to a rapidly evolving context that requires multiple strategies, from public equities and corporate debt to venture capital and real estate.
PureHealth was launched last year when ADQ joined with Alpha Dhabi (part of the Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company (IHC)), AH Capital and Ataa Financial Investments; both ADQ and IHC are chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser and a brother of UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
PureHealth consolidated several UAE healthcare assets in ADQ’s portfolio, including Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), The National Health Insurance Company (Daman), Tamouh Healthcare, Yas Clinic Group and Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center, but it excluded Egypt’s Amoun Pharmaceutical Company and Switzerland’s Acino.
ADQ’s sister sovereign fund in Abu Dhabi, Mubadala, has also built a strong portfolio of domestic assets in its health platform, Mubadala Health, through partnerships with foreign providers of speciality services with the purpose of addressing the Emirate’s healthcare needs.
In April, Mubadala Health teamed up with G42, the leading Abu Dhabi-based AI technology holding group, to launch M42, a tech-enabled, integrated healthcare company with a portfolio of assets that includes Amana Healthcare, Biogenix Labs, Danat Al Emarat, HealthPoint Hospital, the HealthPlus network of specialty centers, Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Insights Research Organization & Solutions (IROS), Omics Center of Excellence and The National Reference Laboratory, among others. In October 2022, G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health announced that they had joined forces to create a new, integrated healthcare technology powerhouse.
Mubadala has also acquired a 60% stake in United Eastern Medical Services, which operates clinics and hospitals in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, co-invested with Singapore’s GIC in Spain’s Healthcare Activos, which provides geriatric services, and was part of a consortium that took a 50% stake in South Korea’s Hugel, a manufacturer of cosmetic botox. In the UK, it plunged around US$500 million into Europe’s leading veterinary healthcare provider IVC Evidensia. Life science is also a significant target of the Abu Dhabi fund’s VC drive in healthcare, with a particular focus on drug discovery. This push is set to remain a major theme in Mubadala’s GBP800 million commitment to the sector in the UK under its Sovereign Investment Partnership.
Abu Dhabi-based healthcare units
Source: Global SWF
