Abu Dhabi state-owned fund ADQ and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners among others are eyeing distressed NMC Health’s core hospital business, as per Reuters. As per sources, NMC could fetch about $1bn from the sale of its business across UAE and Oman. Khaleej Times reported that Saudi’s Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group (HMG) and hospital chain operator Mediclinic are among the other suitors. An NMC spokesman said: “A process to explore the possibilities of a sale was launched last month and, while it is understandably attracting considerable interest, it is at an early stage”. This comes after an undisclosed debt pile of over $4bn led to NMC’s fall from grace, pushing its dollar sukuk and bonds to 12-17 cents on the dollar. As per banking sources, this is a price discovery exercise for the company to figure out whether the sale price meets creditors’ expectations or should the company hold on to its assets and proceed with a restructuring. This comes after the company’s UAE and Oman business reported gross revenues of $1.12bn with an EBITDA of $87.6bn for 2020, both exceeding projections from its business plan. Last month, an Emirati creditor managed to secure a freeze order against NMC’s executives who are said to have been involved in the fraudulent transactions.
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