KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 – Hong Leong Group and TPG have entered into a definitive share purchase agreement with Columbia Pacific Management to acquire Columbia Asia hospitals in Southeast Asia for US$1.2 billion.
Under the partnership, banking and financial services corporation Hong Leong and TPG, a global alternative asset firm, will purchase 17 Columbia Asia hospitals and one clinic in Southeast Asia, located in Malaysia (12 hospitals), Indonesia (three hospitals) and Vietnam (two hospitals and one clinic).
The deal does not include the 11 Columbia Asia hospitals in India.
“Columbia Asia is leveraging the middle to upper middle-income market here. It has good scale and an established brand. The asset has growth momentum and, together with the management, we will continue to grow the brand in Southeast Asia,” said Hong Leong’s Finance director Soon Seong Keat, according to The Edge Markets.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Columbia Asia Hospitals has plans to add another 900 beds in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam over the next three to four years, on top of its 1,500 beds already in operation in Southeast Asia.
These will come from nine projects in both greenfield and brownfield assets, said Dilip Kadambi, interim group CEO and group CFO of Columbia Asia Group.
“The group’s revenue has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20 per cent over the last few years and we expect the business to continue to grow at the same rate over the next few years. We will open one or two hospitals a year,” Dilip was quoted saying.
