Amanat acquires majority stake in Bahraini maternity hospital for Dh141.7m

The company has so far invested 73 per cent of its total capital on buying assets

Next year the company also will start to see income from the Dh141.7m acquisition of a majority stake in the Royal Maternity Hospital Holding in Bahrain.Rosemary Behan

Amanat Holdings, the Dubai company whose assets include healthcare and education investments, acquired a majority stake in a maternity hospital based in Bahrain for Dh141.7 million, its first purchase in the kingdom.

The company, which has invested only in Saudi Arabia and the UAE so far,  bought a 69.3 per cent stake in Royal Maternity Hospital Holding, it said in a statement to Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded. In a short statement on Sunday, Amanat did not say who it has bought the stake from and who retains the remaining ownership in the hospital, which is also known as Royal Hospital for Women.

This deal takes the number of acquisitions by the company to four this year, making the hospital Amanat's seventh portfolio asset.

Earlier this month, the company said it deployed 73 per cent of its total capital following the Dh369m acquisition of the Middlesex University in Dubai. The deal was struck with former owners, including embattled private equity firm Abraaj Group.

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Amanat has invested Dh1.8 billion of its Dh2.5bn capital, of which Dh1.1bn was deployed this year alone, the company said at the time in a regulatory filing. The acquisition of Middlesex University has a potential Dh73m earn-out clause – a contractual provision of additional payments to the seller if the business achieves certain financial goals.

Last month, Amanat confirmed its talks with the owners of the Middlesex University in Dubai, including Abraaj, which went into provisional liquidation in June after facing accusations of mismanaging investors funds in a $1bn healthcare investment vehicle. However, Abraaj denied the allegations.

Amanat reported a 12.7 per cent increase in the second-quarter net profit thanks to higher income from its equity investments. The company's net income for the first six months of the year also climbed 12 per cent to Dh27.9m as it continued to invest in new acquisitions.