IHH acquires Turkyish hospital operator Kent

IHH Healthcare Bhd has acquired Kent Health Group, the largest private hospital operator in Izmir, Turkiye.

IHH said in a statement yesterday that its subsidiary, Acibadem Healthcare Group, had entered into definitive agreements to acquire 100% of Kent Health Group.

Founded in 2004, Kent Health Group operates the largest private hospital in Izmir, namely the 340-bed Izmir Kent Hospital with an attached cancer centre as well as two medical centres in the city.

Commenting on the acquisition, Acibadem founder and chairman Mehmet Ali Aydınlar said he was proud to bring the Acibadem brand to Izmir, which is the third-largest city in Turkiye.

“This transaction aligns with our growth strategy in the country and achieves our long-awaited goal to serve the people of Izmir.

“We are pleased to be providing our services to the community by adding Kent Health Group, a prominent player in Izmir’s private healthcare arena, to our portfolio.”

In the same statement, Kent chairman and Mideuropa partner Matthew Strassberg said the acquisition by Acibadem validates the strategic value generated by Kent.

“These investments ensure the continuity of focus on medical and service excellence for the benefit of patients and other stakeholders.

“Over the past decade, Mideuropa has actively supported Kent’s management team as we invested more than double Kent’s capacity, including the greenfield construction of a state-of-the-art oncology centre and the opening of a new satellite facility.”

Izmir Kent Hospital will be Acibadem’s 19th hospital in Turkiye and 25th globally.

IHH said the number of medical centres in Acibadem’s network will increase to 16 with this acquisition.

“The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2023 following the completion of necessary regulatory approvals,” it said.

For its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022, IHH reported a lower net profit of Rm251.76mil, compared with Rm550mil in the previous corresponding period, while revenue stood at Rm4.60bil compared with Rm4.44bil a year earlier.

IHH said the growth in revenue was mainly due to the strong recovery from core non-covid-19 revenues as both local and foreign patients returned to seek treatment at the group’s hospitals.

“The continuous ramp-up of operations at Gleneagles Hong Kong Hospital and acquisitions of Bel Medic on July 20, 2021 and Ortopedia on Aug 9, 2022 also contributed to the increase.

“These were partially offset by lower contribution from Covid-19-related services rendered in the third quarter of 2022, as well as the disposal of Continental Hospitals in December 2021 and partial lockdown in China.”

In a statement on its third-quarter 2022 earnings, IHH said it is rolling out its digital transformation initiatives to innovate and digitalise more of its operations.

“As the group pivots its strategy towards growth, it continues to seek opportunities to acquire strategic assets.

“It will also focus on improving its returns on equity. It will continue to improve on group-wide synergies and operational efficiencies.”

Additionally, IHH said it is building distinct platforms where it sees strong growth potential, such as its laboratory businesses.