Aster DM Healthcare expects to close Saudi deals in months

• Aster acquiring hospitals
• Evaluating ‘five or six assets’
• Plans for 1,000 beds

Aster DM Healthcare is buying more clinics and hospitals in Saudi Arabia with some deals expected to close in the coming months. 

The hospital operator, headquartered in Dubai, wants to increase its current roster of 250 hospital beds in Riyadh to 1,000 beds within the next three to four years to help meet the country’s increasing demand for affordable healthcare services. 

“We’re evaluating five or six really interesting assets, both hospitals and clinic chains,” Alisha Moopen, managing director and group CEO for Aster’s Gulf Cooperation Council unit, told AGBI.

“Hopefully, in the next three months, we’ll have some assets under our belt.”

Saudi Arabia’s healthcare market is rapidly expanding following the launch of mandatory health insurance policies.

Fahad Al-Jalajel, the health minister, has projected that the private sector’s role in healthcare provision is expected to grow from 20 to 50 percent by the end of the decade, according to the Saudi Gazette.

With 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s 32 million residents under 30, S&P Global analysts estimate the kingdom will need an additional 30,000 public and private hospital beds by 2030, particularly in densely populated cities and remote areas. 

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Aster, which has operated in Saudi Arabia for 12 years, is positioning itself to meet demand from a broader middle-income population.

It also plans to expand its pharmacy network from 12 to nearly 200 locations and to add 40 to 50 clinics by 2028.

Moopen said that while some hospital and clinic facilities will be built from the ground up, high capital costs are driving Aster to pursue acquisitions to scale sooner as the company seeks to replicate its UAE model in Saudi.

“[We think of] what we have done in UAE, Qatar and Oman as a dress rehearsal,” she said. 

“We want to be able to do that faster here.“

Aster’s main focus includes primary care, providing basic health services such as prevention, diagnosis, and general treatment. 

“There is a big requirement for building up that infrastructure,” Moopen said. 

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Aster is also expanding in high-demand fields such as orthopedics, physical rehabilitation, women’s and children’s health, and general surgery.

Though not currently a focus for Aster, Moopen highlighted rising demand for mental health, addiction treatment and rehabilitation services in Saudi Arabia, where these services remain limited.

In March, Aster confirmed the separation of its GCC and Indian operations, with founder and chairman Dr Azad Moopen continuing to lead the Gulf business, in which he retains a 35 percent stake.

The Gulf business generates 70 percent of Aster’s revenues.

Saudi Arabia’s economic reform plans allocated SAR214 billion ($57 billion) to its health and social development sector in 2024 and spending is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 5 percent up to 2027.