Abu Dhabi healthcare company raises $1bn

New Medical Centre (NMC), a healthcare company based in Abu Dhabi, has raised more than US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) to fund expansion through the sale of a 40 per cent stake to a local investment company.

Dr BR Shetty, the healthcare provider's chief executive, said the $1.2bn sale of a 40 per cent stake to Centurion Investment, also based in Abu Dhabi, would allow for spending on health services across the country.

"It will help to develop facilities in the country - we're planning to have a 250-bed hospital in Abu Dhabi, 100 beds in Dubai and 100 beds in Al Ain," Dr Shetty said.

The cash will also allow the acquisition of hospitals in the region, including Egypt, Libya and Qatar, and expansion into India.

Dr Shetty added NMC was planning to open a medical college in Abu Dhabi to address skills shortages and to develop a regional hub for medical training.

NMC has been granted 43,000 square metres of land in Khalifa City A to build high-tech speciality hospitals, which Dr Shetty said would focus on maternity care, paediatrics and other areas.

"The acquisition of 40 per cent share of the [NMC] comes under the company's plans for investing in the medical sector", Said bin Buti al Qubaisi, the Centurion Investment chairman, told the UAE news agency WAM.

There are a number of Middle East countries ripe for healthcare investments, said Simon Page, the divisional director of the Life Sciences Division of IIR Middle East.

Preventative medicine, oncology and specialist cardiac surgeries are all in demand, Mr Page said.

"[Health care] has come a long way - they've got some state-of-the-art facilities here, but you just need to keep investing. Technologies are always changing and so are people," he said.

ghunter@thenational.ae