Amanat buys Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre for $232m

The company is looking at other acquisitions in the Mena region, according to its chief executive

Amanat plans to focus on health care, with a focus on post-acute care and rehabilitation services in the Mena region. Courtesy Amanat

Dubai-listed investment company Amanat Holdings acquired Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Centre for $232 million in one of the region's biggest healthcare deals.

Amanat bought CMRC from TVM Capital Healthcare, a private equity firm focused on emerging markets, and the transaction was funded through cash and a Dh405m ($110.2m) bank loan, it said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade.

“With this transaction, Amanat has fully [used] its paid-up capital of Dh2.5 billion and now manages close to Dh3bn in assets,” chairman Hamad Al Shamsi said.

“We continue to deliver on our strategic objectives to invest in high-yielding assets that are leading the transformation in the healthcare and education sectors delivering further value to our shareholders.”

CMRC, a specialist provider of post-acute care and rehabilitation services, has three units with a capacity of more than 250 beds in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

It posted a net profit of $15.2m last year on revenue of $75.3m.

“Post-acute care and rehabilitation has proven to be one of the most resilient sub-sectors during the pandemic and we are now well positioned to accelerate organic growth and pursue expansion across the GCC,” said Amanat chief executive Mohamad Hamade.

“We look forward to working closely with the public sector in the GCC in creating clusters of partnerships to develop healthcare service line integration where post-acute care services and other synergistic services are provided to address market demand through a more systematic relationship that offers long-term, cost-effective synergies.”

The transaction is Amanat’s first wholly owned investment in the healthcare sector in the UAE.

Apart from health care, the company has invested in education and property.

Its education portfolio includes school operator Taaleem, Abu Dhabi University Holding and Middlesex University Dubai.

Amanat also owns the property assets of the North London Collegiate School in Dubai.

Its healthcare platform includes International Medical Centre, a 300-bed multidisciplinary hospital based in Jeddah, Bahrain's Royal Hospital for Women and Children and Sukoon, a provider of acute extended, critical and home care medical services.

The company will continue to look at acquisitions in higher education and health care, with a focus on post-acute care and rehabilitation services in the Mena region, said Mr Hamade.

“We would look to grow post-acute care and rehabilitation," said Mr Hamade.

"We currently have Cambridge and Sukoon and we also have mother and child as a vertical within the Royal Hospital for Women and Children. Within those specialities, we will be putting focus within the Mena region.”

New deals will be financed through a mix of debt and equity or “through divestments of our assets and recycling that cash to invest”, he said.

Amanat is also looking at investing in Egypt, although Mr Hamade did not provide details.

Last month, Amanat reported an 86 per cent drop in full-year 2020 net profit, despite a rise in revenue.

That was largely a result of healthcare assets suffering “from a drag from a one-off provision in 2020, which we will not expect in 2021”, said Mr Hamade.

Amanat is on a “positive trajectory for further growth in 2021”, he said.