Temasek, Istithmar take stake in Thai hospital

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Istithmar PJSC, an investment house in the United Arab Emirates, have jointly purchased a combined 11.88 percent stake in Bumrungrad Hospital in Thailand’s capital city.
 
Temasek and Istithmar acquired the stake in Bangkok-listed Bumrungrad Hospital Public Company for $55 million from Sinnsuptawee Asset Management Company, a 99 percent-owned subsidiary of Bangkok Bank Public Company, according to Bumrungrad.

The transaction will reduce Sinnsuptawee’s stake in the hospital from 23.97 percent to 12.09 percent of total paid-in capital.

Both Istithmar and Temasek have also agreed in principle to co-invest in BIL, a wholly-owned investment vehicle of Bumrungrad, subject to further due diligence process and approval by the various parties.

BIL invested in Asian Hospital of the Philippines in 2005, and has announced plans to build a new hospital in Dubai together with Istithmar.

“As one of the leading private hospitals in Southeast Asia, Bumrungrad is an attractive investment with good domestic and regional growth potential…[it] reinforces our positive outlook on the prospects of the healthcare sector in this region,” Tan Swee Suan, managing director, investments, at Temasek said in the statement.

Temasek is going through a busy acquisitive period, according to press reports. The firm is reported to have shown interest in acquiring a controlling stake in Thai telecommunications company, Shin Corp., for about $1.8 billion in what is believed would be the largest buyout in the company’s history. The Indian press has also reported that Temasek is interested in acquiring a stake in Tata Teleservices, India’s second largest provider of CDMA-based mobile telephone services.