MPIC to acquire 57% of Asian Hospital

MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has signed a deal to take over Asian Hospital Inc., a 219-bed high-end medical institution located at the Filinvest Corporate City in Muntinlupa for approximately P1.456 billion.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, MPIC said it was acquiring around 57 percent of Asian Hospital from Thai hospital group Bumrungrad International Ltd. and several Filipino shareholders, increasing the bed capacity of the MPIC Hospital Group to over 1,800 across the country.

Asian Hospital, established in March 2002 with renowned Filipino heart surgeon Dr. George Garcia as the founding chairman, is the sixth health facility to be added to MPIC’s portfolio of hospitals. It is the first private tertiary hospital built in the southern part of Metro Manila.

Under the agreement, MPIC will acquire 100 percent of the shares of Bumrungrad International which owns 532.58 million shares for P732 million. MPIC will also purchase Neptune Stroika Holdings’ 473.1 million shares in Asian Hospital for P601 million and another 88.54 million shares of the Muntinlupa-based hospital for P123 million. Neptune is 40 percent owned by Bumrungrad International, a health care facility leader in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company will also a conduct a mandatory tender offer for all the remaining Asian Hospital shares held by the public.

“The details of said mandatory tender offer will be announced at the appropriate time. The final shareholding of MPIC in Asian Hospital will depend on the results of the tender offer, but based on the aforementioned interests alone MPIC is expected to own no less than approximately 57 percent,” MPIC said.

MPIC said the deal, subject to completion of certain conditions, is expected to be finished before the end of the year.

Augie Palisoc Jr., president and chief executive officer of the MPIC Hospital Group, said the purchase will be funded through internally-generated cash.

“This gives us a platform to better serve the health needs of our countrymen in the South of Metro Manila and in Southern Luzon,” Palisoc said.

MPIC’s other medical facilities include Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan, and the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

“We are excited with our investment in Asian Hospital, one of the premier medical facilities in our country that is about to complete its 14-story second tower which cost about P1.2 billion to build. Tower 2 will house an additional 144 beds (thereby increasing capacity to 363 beds), outpatient facilities, doctors’ clinics, food outlets and even more parking spaces for our customers,” Palisoc said.

The new tower is part of the hospital’s two-phase expansion project aimed at bringing expanded services and better facilities to its growing customer base.