Temasek unit acquires 2 per cent stake in HMI for S$11 million

TEMASEK-OWNED Heliconia Capital Management is acquiring a 2 per cent stake in private healthcare player Health Management International (HMI) through an S$11 million placement.

HMI will issue 16.9 million new ordinary shares at S$0.65 per share to Orchid 2 Investments, a company managed and controlled by Heliconia. The issue price represents a discount of 0.76 per cent to the counter's closing price of S$0.655 on Nov 13, and a premium of 0.9 per cent to the volume-weighted average closing price of HMI shares traded on the Singapore Exchange for the 30-day period ending on Nov 13.

"The group intends to utilise the net proceeds to finance the group's business expansion and to grow the existing business," HMI highlighted. It owns two tertiary hospitals in Malaysia as well as a healthcare training centre in Singapore.

Derek Lau, chief executive of Heliconia, said: "We like the regional footprint of HMI's private healthcare business and its committed management team. Heliconia has strong interest in the healthcare sector as it ties in well with regional trends of growing middle class and ageing population."

For the first quarter ended Sept 30, HMI's net profit more than doubled from RM6.17 million to RM13.79 million (S$4.5 million).

Revenue increased 6.9 per cent year on year to RM117.1 million, on the back of rising patient loads and average bill sizes across the group's two hospitals.