Khazanah offers S$1.18 billion for control of Parkway
Malaysia’s state investment company, offered $839 million to more than double its stake in Parkway Holdings Ltd. and gain control of Asia’s biggest hospital operator.
The Malaysian company has been increasing overseas investments after Prime Minister Najib Razak said state agencies should scale back their local business interests. Kuala Lumpur- based Khazanah has 12 percent of investments abroad, compared with none five years ago.
Khazanah will hold the Parkway shares in its Integrated Healthcare unit along with its stakes in Pantai Holdings Bhd., Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. and IMU Health Sdn Bhd. The value of the company’s investments climbed 63 percent to $16 billion at the end of 2009 from a year earlier.
Parkway runs 16 hospitals with more than 3,400 beds in China, India and Malaysia among other Asian countries, according to its website. In Singapore, the group’s operations include the Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth hospitals, both located close to the central Orchard Road shopping belt. It also manages a real estate investment trust and provides health-care education.
Chief Executive Officer Tan See Leng said in February that Parkway may make acquisitions in China to tap rising demand for health care in the world’s most populous nation.
The company reported a 10 percent gain in first-quarter net income to S$25.8 million, helped by an increase in foreign patients at its hospitals in Singapore. Revenue rose 8 percent to S$247.6 million in the period.