Fullerton deal is no side gig for Japan Inc

“WHERE there’s a will, there’s a way” could well sum up Japan Inc’s quiet but profound pivot into South-east Asia’s lucrative private healthcare space, where demand outruns capacity.

When Sumitomo – the Japanese conglomerate – swooped in to acquire Malaysia’s CareClinics Healthcare Services in 2020, the climate was unforgiving. The deal was sealed at the height of the pandemic with travel and movement curbs turning negotiations and integration issues into a logistical nightmare.

But it paid off. Four years later, Sumitomo has grown that small foothold into the country’s largest private clinic network with over 100 clinics; it plans to triple this by 2026.