UAE’s NMC Healthcare sells 53% stake in Saudi Medical Care Group

Logo of NMC Healthcare

UAE-based NMC Healthcare sold its 53% stake in Saudi Medical Care Group (SMCG), offloading the last of its international businesses ahead of its exit from the administration process, the company said in a statement today, March 21.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the second half of 2022 after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and satisfying customary closing conditions, the statement said, without naming the buyer or specifying the deal value.

NMC Healthcare is set to come out of administration this year after its creditors approved a restructuring process in 2021.

The sale of the group's last substantial "non-core international asset" is deemed “one of the final pieces in this jigsaw, as we position NMC to deliver its long-term growth plan,” said Richard Fleming, joint administrator of NMC and NMC Healthcare.

It also constitutes a strategic move in the company’s focus on investing its resources in core assets in the Middle East.

SMCG owns 49.20% of the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul)-listed National Medical Care Co (Care).

In March 2019, the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) and Hassana Investment Co. had reached a final agreement to transfer their 38.88% stake in Care to SMCG.

SMCG is 53% owned by NMC Healthcare and 47% by GOSI.

NMC Healthcare recently announced the group’s debt reached around $6.6 billion, including $360 million worth of convertible bonds and $400 million in sukuks.

In late 2019, the company ran into trouble following the disclosure of undisclosed debts worth $6.6 billion, causing one of the largest institutional loan crises in the Gulf. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank had a combined exposure to NMC of about $1 billion, and Dubai Islamic Bank for less than $500 million.