Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) plans to buy the stake of global investment firm KKR & Co. in Metro Pacific Health Corp. (MPH).
Informed sources said MPIC would raise funds to finance the acquisition.
Sources said KKR was looking to sell its shares in MPH after nearly five years of investing in MPH. Discussions with both parties are ongoing, they said.
KKR together with GIC of Singapore invested P35.3 billion in MPH in 2019, which at that time was majority-owned by MPIC.
Under the agreement, KKR and GIC paid P5.2 billion ($100 million) worth of shares in Metro Pacific’s hospital venture.
The KKR-led consortium also purchased P30.1 billion ($580 million) of exchangeable bonds, which could be converted into 239,932,962 common shares in MPH in the next 10 years.
MPH is the operator of the largest private hospitals and healthcare network in the Philippines in terms of bed capacity.
Meanwhile, MPH also disclosed plans to acquire four hospitals in 2024.
MPH vice chairman and president Augusto Palisoc Jr. said in a recent media briefing the group is on the lookout for more hospitals this year as part of its expansion plan.
“For this year, our battle cry is four more hospitals in 2024,” Palisoc said.
MPH ended 2023 with 23 hospitals in its network.
MPH announced in May the acquisition of a majority stake in UHBI-Parañaque Doctors Hospital Inc., its 24th hospital nationwide.
The 21-year-old hospital sits on a 6,000-square-meter land along Doña Solenad Ave., with a pool of over 200 active doctors and 94 hospital beds.
MPH is also nearing the completion of an investment agreement with San Francisco Doctors Hospital Inc. in Agusan del Sur province.
“It is not yet completed because this requires an investment of cash into the company. We need to get certain approvals for the capital increase, so we’re waiting for that before we can officially call it a completed acquisition,” Palisoc said.
The deal, expected to be completed in the next couple of months, will enable MPH to acquire a 72-percent stake in San Francisco Doctors Hospital.
Other hospitals in its portfolio include Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, Davao Doctors Hospital and Commonwealth Medical Hospital.
