KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 2): LYC Healthcare Bhd is buying out its Singapore joint-venture (JV) partner's 49% stake in a 67-bedroom confinement care facility in Johor Bharu for RM4.5 million cash, to be paid via monthly instalments of RM300,000.

The facility is owned by LYC SOG Mother & Child Sdn Bhd, which is 51%-owned by LYC Healthcare and 49% by SOG Mummy & Baby Centre Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of SOG Health Pte Ltd in Singapore.

The proposed acquisition presents an opportunity for LYC Healthcare to fully own and control the JV unit, providing flexibility in expanding its confinement care business in Johor, it said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

“The full ownership of LYC SOG also allows the LYC group to arrange and decide on the structure and timing for fundraising of new capital, as and when required, to ensure the successful execution of the group's expansion plan in the confinement care business, as well as to capitalise on other future growth opportunities in the mother and childcare related services,” it said.

LYC Healthcare expects the acquisition to be completed by the first quarter this year.

Shares in LYC Healthcare were trading one sen or 5% lower at 19 sen at the time of writing on Tuesday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM127.18 million.