Hong Leong and TPG acquire all Columbia Asia Hospitals in Vietnam

The deal is valued at some $1.2 billion and expected to close as soon as the end of the year.

Hong Leong and TPG will accordingly take over 17 Columbia Asia Hospitals and two clinics located in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. The 11 hospitals in India are not a part of the transaction and will continue to operate with no changes, under the existing ownership of International Columbia US, LLC, which is managed by Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management.

Columbia Pacific Management will continue to hold a minority interest in the Southeast Asia business through International Columbia US, LLC.

Currently, Vietnam has two Columbia Asia hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong province (the Columbia Asia International Hospital – Gia Dinh and the Columbia Asia Hospital – Binh Duong), and one clinic (the Columbia Asia International Clinic – Saigon) located also in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. With a total capacity of 120 beds across these healthcare centres, the Columbia Asia hospital chain has been filling the daily needs of local patients, with services ranging from medical, critical care, diagnostic and surgical.

According to Dilip Kadambi, group chief financial officer and interim CEO of Columbia Asia Hospitals, healthcare is hugely underserved in the Southeast Asian markets and the medical group has taken the initiative to invest in 18 healthcare facilities with 1,494 beds across these 3 countries in the region over the past 20 years.

“Under the aegis of Hong Leong and TPG, we will continue to scale this platform further. We have nine ongoing projects adding an additional bed capacity of 898 in Southeast Asia at various stages of development. With this expansion and growth baked into the company, we are looking forward to continue delivering care to our communities the ‘Columbia Asia’ way,” said Kadambi.

In Vietnam, the healthcare sector has received a constant flow of investment in recent years.

For instant, Binh Thanh Import-Export Production and Trade JSC (Gilimex), earlier this month, has announced its injection of nearly VND12 billion (over $520,000) into a subsidiary that going to implement the Tan Binh Hospital project.

Gilimex will hold 98 per cent of the stakes at the hospital while the remaining part will be contributed by two other investors.

Earlier on, the company was also known to purchase some 50,000 shares or 1.02 per cent of Trieu An Private Hospital JSC.

Last year, TMMC Healthcare Group, which operates four private hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Thap, Danang and Nha Trang, received $25 million from VinaCapital’s Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) to fund its purchase of new equipment, hospital expansion and buyout of a new unit.