Metro Pacific Investments has revealed it will sell a 42.5% stake in the country’s largest hospital chain, Metro Pacific Hospitals Inc., to a consortium led by private equity firm KKR & Co for around USD 685 million. The sale, which values the whole unit at USD 1.6 billion, had drawn interest from buyout firms due to strong healthcare spending in Southeast Asia. The consortium is made up of American global investment firm KKR and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, which will restructure its current investment in the hospitals business and re-invest with the buyout firm.
Under the deal, KKR will acquire USD 100.8 million worth of shares in the hospital business. KKR will also invest USD 583.7 million for convertible bonds that will be swapped for Metro Pacific’s hospital shares in the next decade. Also as part of the transaction, GIC will restructure its current investment in the business and reinvest alongside KKR.
(Sources: ABS-CBN News; Philippine Star; Channel News Asia)
