KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 10): IHH Healthcare Bhd announced that it will acquire the entire equity interest in Bedrock Healthcare Sdn Bhd (BHSB) for a cash consideration of RM245 million.

In a bourse filing on Thursday (Aug 10), IHH said its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Pantai Holdings Sdn Bhd has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Saravita Holdings Sdn Bhd and nine individual founders for the entire equity interest in Bedrock Healthcare.

BHSB, via its wholly-owned subsidiaries, owns the key asset Timberland Medical Centre (TMC) in Kuching, Sarawak and has earmarked vacant land in central Kuching for the construction of a new 200-bed tertiary hospital.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the first half of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of conditions precedent in accordance with the SPA. Upon completion, BHSB and its subsidiaries will be consolidated as subsidiaries of IHH.

“The acquisition and new development will strengthen IHH’s position as a leading provider of quality and comprehensive care across Malaysia. The two assets will complement our cluster strategy for East Malaysia and bring the total IHH bed capacity in East Malaysia to almost 500 in the future,” IHH group chief strategy and business development officer Ashok Pandit said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia.

IHH Healthcare Malaysia chief executive officer Jean-François Naa said that the proposed acquisition would allow IHH to strengthen its position in Sarawak "by scaling up Timberland’s operations via a new 200-bed tertiary hospital to be constructed in central Kuching, with a further investment of approximately RM400 million, to serve the local needs as well as the fast-growing medical tourism market from Indonesia".

TMC, which has been operating for almost 30 years, is a prominent and respected 82-bed private medical centre in Kuching with strong brand recognition across Borneo.

The acquisition is not expected to have any effect on IHH’s issued share capital, shareholders, earnings, net assets or gearing for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023.

IHH shares closed up six sen or 1.01% at RM6 on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM52.84 billion.