Monday, December 14, 2015
Aster DM Healthcare plans to invest more than US$136 million during the next two years to expand its facilities in the Arabian Gulf as demand for hospitals and clinics grows.
The Dubai-based company inaugurated a medical facility in Bahrain yesterday as it seeks to grow across the region.
“We have focused on delivering affordable, specialised health care to cater to the growing patient traffic and the risk of non-communicable diseases,” said Azad Moopen, the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, of the Bahrain centre.
Demand for health care in the region is rising because of a growing population, high per-capita GDP and an increase in lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Aster is the latest UAE company to expand its reach beyond its home turf to capture a slice of the growing Gulf healthcare sector through organic growth and acquisitions.
London-listed NMC Health and Al Noor Hospitals have been planning to expand locally and overseas.
In April, NMC announced two purchases in the UAE: the Dr Sunny Healthcare Group in Sharjah and the in-home health services provider AmeriCare for a combined $100m.
In February, NMC invested €143m (Dh577.3m) in Clinica Eugin, a fertility treatment business based in Barcelona, bought from private equity investors.
Abu Dhabi-based Al Noor Hospitals in September bought Rochester Wellness, which provides physical, speech and occupational rehabilitation therapy at homes and at two inpatient facilities in Dubai and Muscat. Rochester Wellness outlets could open in one to two years in Abu Dhabi and later in other Gulf countries, said Ronald Lavater, the chief executive of Al Noor Hospitals, in September.
Dubai-listed Amanat Holdings, an education and healthcare company that owns a 4.14 per cent stake in Al Noor, this year acquired a 35 per cent stake in Sukoon International, a Saudi Arabian healthcare company.
Dubai-based private equity firm Al Masah Capital is investing Dh1.1bn in its healthcare service provider Avivo Group, which plans to expand in the UAE as well as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Singapore.
The Gulf healthcare market is forecast to grow at 12 per cent to reach $69.4 billion by 2018 from about $39.4bn in 2013, according to Alpen Capital. Outpatient and inpatient markets are projected to account for 79 per cent and 21 per cent of the overall market size.
Saudi Arabia is forecast to remain the largest GCC market while Qatar and the UAE are to be the fastest-growing markets in the future.
thenational.ae
