The Abraaj Group, a private equity investor operating in global growth markets, has exited its investment in Vejthani, selling its stake to the South East Asian healthcare chain KPJ Healthcare.
This was the second successful exit in the last six months for the Abraaj in the rapidly expanding private healthcare sector.
The Abraaj Group has a portfolio of nine hospitals around the world, including in India, the Philippines, Kenya and Nigeria.
The Abraaj Group acquired its stake in Vejthani in 2009. The investment was designed to capture increased demand within Thailand for international standards of medical treatment, as well as the growing healthcare tourism market. In particular, the group identified that rising middle class incomes in Russia, the Middle East and Africa would drive demand for high quality healthcare, more competitively priced than might be possible locally or in private healthcare facilities in Europe and the US.
The Abraaj Group’s investment in Vejthani transformed it from a local general hospital to a multi specialist hospital, growing from seven specialty clinics in 2007 to 22 clinics today, offering treatments including total joint replacement, bone marrow transplants and paediatric treatment. Along with the new specialties, Vejthani also added 80 new doctors and raised the qualification levels of its clinical staff to better reflect its growing domestic and international clientele.
Omar Lodhi (pictured), partner and Asia head, The Abraaj Group, says: “Our investment in Vejthani has helped it transform into a specialised hospital with best in class international standards including JCI accreditation to capitalise on the rapidly growing trends in medical tourism and also meet the needs of Bangkok’s growing middle class for a better standard of medical care. The hospital has increased the availability of specialist treatment in the international space and succeeded in winning new patients.”
