PureHealth in talks to buy hospital operator NMC

• More expansion for group
• NMC has been rebuilding
• Now runs 85 medical sites

PureHealth Holding, the UAE’s largest healthcare group, is in discussions to acquire the UAE hospital operator NMC Healthcare, sources familiar with the matter say.

A deal, if finalised, could be announced before the first half of 2025, sources told AGBI, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Other potential bidders had explored the opportunity but were not expected to proceed, they said.

PureHealth, which is backed by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, and NMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

NMC, which operates 85 medical facilities across the UAE, said in June that it had began exploring strategic options after appointing Rothschild & Co as its financial adviser. The review included the possibility of a sale or initial public offering. 

The company, which was founded in 1975, emerged from administration in 2022 after a $4 billion debt restructuring led by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

It was once a flagship healthcare provider in the UAE and became the first from the region to list on the London Stock Exchange in 2012. 

NMC’s valuation surged from $665 million at the time of its first IPO to $11 billion within six years, driven by rapid acquisitions and heavy leverage.

However, in late 2019, the Californian investment and research company Muddy Waters uncovered financial irregularities, questioning the value of the company’s assets and cash balance, and its reported profits, and pointing to more than $4 billion in undisclosed debt.

The revelations grew to include $6.6 billion in hidden borrowings across a web of 75 debt facilities from more than 80 financial institutions, leaving many UAE and overseas lenders exposed to potential large write-offs, and sending the company into administration in 2020.

Court filings reported by Bloomberg in April said NMC owed Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank $963 million, Dubai Islamic Bank $541 million, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank $325 million, Standard Chartered $250 million and Barclays $146 million.

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NMC’s founder, Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes in 2019 to be around $4 billion, has alleged that he was defrauded by a former executive and associates without his knowledge. 

The company’s former CEO, Prasanth Manghat, has denied the allegations.

Since restructuring, NMC has focused on rebuilding under new CEO David Hadley, serving more than 5.5 million patients a year through a workforce of 12,000 across hospitals, community clinics, day surgery centers and fertility facilities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the northern emirates.

A deal with PureHealth would provide long-term stability for NMC, the sources said.

PureHealth, valued at about $10 billion, has been aggressively expanding its portfolio. The company acquired the UK’s Circle Health Group and Ardent Health Services in the US, and last year raised about $986 million in a listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange last year.

The acquisition would solidify PureHealth’s position as a dominant player in the region’s healthcare market, building on its existing portfolio, which includes SEHA, the UAE’s largest hospital network, and Daman, the national health insurer, as well as laboratories.

The deal would also mark another milestone in Abu Dhabi’s drive to consolidate and strengthen its healthcare sector as part of its economic diversification strategy.