Both parties have not commented on what led to the dissolution of the agreement that would have seen the creation of Egypt’s largest private-sector healthcare group
After months of awaiting possibly one of the largest mergers in the Arab World in a long time, Cleopatra Hospital Group (CHG) and Alameda Healthcare Group has called it quits on the acquisition of the latter’s Egyptian assets.
Almost 5 months after the initial announcement, CHG announced the break in a statement to the Egyptian Exchange yesterday.
So far, both parties have not commented on what led to the dissolution of the Sale and Purchase agreement that would have seen the creation of Egypt’s largest private-sector healthcare group, with Cleopatra’s statement simply stating the agreement “has been terminated”.
The acquisition did see push back from the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) soon after the announcement’s release at the end of 2020, but it seems that this was not what caused the breakup according to Enterprise who cited unnamed sources.
Bloomberg had estimated the deal's value between $450 and $500 million when it broke the news in December 2020.
CHG has been taking aggressive steps forward recently, with 2020 seeing fast-paced growth due to several recent acquisitions; March 2020 saw the group acquire Queen’s Hospital in Cairo, while they bought El-Khatab Hospital in September.
If the Alameda acquisition had gone through, CHG would have doubled their post-close EBITDA, said CEO Ahmed Ezzeldin. It also would have given the group around 15 percent of Greater Cairo’s hospital beds, approximately 1.45 thousand beds.
They continue to push forward and have confirmed it is looking to acquire 51 percent of Alexandria Medical Services.
Alameda Chairman Dr. Fahad Khater was quoted saying " We genuinely have nothing but respect for the Cleopatra team and wish them the best going forward…Our mission is unchanged: We are building Egypt’s most dynamic platform for the delivery of quality healthcare, from preventive medicine to primary care and world-class specialties. We will continue to invest in our growth in class-A, JCI-accredited, purpose-built hospitals in Cairo and beyond — and in quality patient outcomes, just as we have always done”.
