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NMC explores sale of UAE, Oman business

Dubai - The sale process will run in parallel with the ongoing restructuring discussions with NMC’s lenders

NMC Group said on Wednesday it had hired Perella Weinberg Partners and Resonance Capital to advise on the potential sale of its healthcare business in the UAE and Oman.

The sale process will run in parallel with the ongoing restructuring discussions with NMC’s lenders, it said.

In a statement, NMC said the group recorded gross revenue for the UAE and Oman of $1.121 billion in 2020 compared to $1.204 billion in 2019.

“Disciplined cost control and accelerated performance improvement plan delivered Ebitda for the UAE and Oman business of $88.3 million (2019 $101 million), significantly ahead of business plan. Revenue for the overall group, which includes non-core international businesses, stood at $1.536 billion in 2020 compared to $1.635 billion a year ago,” it said.

Michael Davis, chief executive officer, said despite a very challenging year for healthcare services around the world, NMC and its subsidiaries were able to fully demonstrate the value facilities bring to the communities they serve in 2020.

“While our financial performance was constrained by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are proud of the central role our clinicians and ancillary staff played in supporting the UAE Government’s programme to battle the pandemic. Our performance in the second half of the year was ahead of expectations and shows the strength and diversity of our services across multiple specialties,” Davis said.

“We entered 2021 with a stable financial position and an operating platform that will enable us to deliver full value to all our stakeholders. Given this performance and resilience, we are growing more confident about our business and competitive position,” he said.

As of 31 December 2020, NMC had $78.9 million of available cash on hand together with undrawn credit facilities of $167.3 million available under its Administration Financing Facility, it said.

On 21 December 2020, NMC Healthcare and NMC Healthcare LTD announced they had agreed to sell their subsidiary Luarmia and Boston IVF) to Fresenius Helios for an enterprise value of $525 million and closing is expected to occur during the first half of 2021 following completion of necessary competition filings. This will further bolster NMC’s liquidity position, the company said.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com