Dubai: Al Noor Hospitals Group, an Abu Dhabi-based company that runs three hospitals and nine medical centres, is planning an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange to finance future growth through acquisitions.
The company, which intends to raise $150 million (Dh550 million) by listing between 30 per cent and 45 per cent of its share capital, is planning to meet with potential institutional investors in about two weeks and hopes to finalise the listing in the second half of June, Sami Alom, its chief strategy officer, said during a media call on Tuesday.
Al Noor considered all of its options for listing shares and remained “very committed to the UAE,” Alom said, but chose to list in London instead of on the local Abu Dhabi bourse because London gives the company access to international investors, high regulatory standards and global exposure.
The planned listing would be the second flotation by an Abu Dhabi-based health care provider on the London Stock Exchange after NMC Health raised £117 million (Dh647 million) last April. Like Al Noor, NMC said it would use the proceeds to fund domestic expansion, but Alom said his company’s listing wasn’t inspired by the success of NMC’s.
In addition to the $150 million Al Noor plans to raise through its IPO, it said it had agreed to a $81.7 million working capital, capital expenditure and acquisition facility. It has identified “a speciality centre and a group of medical centres for an aggregate consideration of approximately $50 million” to support its growth plans, it said.
After the IPO, the company plans to use $75 million of the proceeds to partially repay an outstanding loan of $118.1 million, it said.
The Al Noor IPO will consist of both new shares and shares held by existing shareholders. The company is 50 per cent-owned by the local Ithmar Capital and its affiliates.
Al Noor, which had 227 beds at the end of the first quarter and is the largest private health care provider in Abu Dhabi, said it made a net profit of $60.5 million last year on $324.4 million of revenues. That compared to a $50.8 million profit in 2011 on $292.9 million of revenues.
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and HSBC are arranging the IPO, while Rothschild is advising Al Noor.
