IFC and Mitsui invest US$60m in MiCare HealthTec Holdings

INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC) and Mitsui & Co (Asia Pacific) are investing around US$60 million in MiCare HealthTEC Holdings, a subsidiary of Zuellig Pharma, to improve healthcare affordability in South-east Asia.

MiCare administers, processes and manages medical claims on behalf of insurance companies and self-insured corporate clients. The company has more than 13 million members in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, and manages and administers medical claims for over 45 insurers in South-east Asia, serving more than 6,500 corporate clients in over 5,000 hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

MiCare also builds applications linking key players in the healthcare sector such as doctors, patients, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, further facilitating the seamless and efficient management of medical claims.

MiCare intends to use the investment to fund its expansion in key South-east Asian markets including Indonesia and Vietnam. The company will also set up a new regional headquarters in Singapore following the investment.

Zuellig Pharma will remain MiCare's largest shareholder. MiCare's chief executive officer Moses Hee will continue to lead the company.

"We have come a long way since 2006, when MiCare started in Malaysia as a third-party administrator of medical claims with just 200 members," said Mr Hee. "As we look forward to embarking on MiCare's next phase of growth, we are very excited to welcome IFC and Mitsui as strategic partners to the MiCare family. This investment will help us continue enhancing our client offerings by strengthening our digital capabilities and enabling us to introduce innovative solutions through partnerships with healthcare ecosystem players such as pharma and telemedicine companies. This is in line with our mission to help manage escalating medical costs and improve healthcare affordability and outcomes for patients."

This investment marks IFC's first investment in the managed-care organisations sector.

"Our investment in MiCare will help bring robust medical claims administration processes and advanced proprietary digital tools to underserved markets in South-east Asia, supporting insurers and providers with the technological tools needed for more efficient and effective healthcare delivery," said Rana Karadsheh, regional industry director for manufacturing, agribusiness and services, Asia-Pacific at IFC.