Pure Health buys UK private hospital group for $1.2bn

Unsplash/ Olga Guryanova

• UAE healthcare group’s first entry into UK
• Circle Health has 2m patient visits per year
• Plans to invest in scientific innovation

Pure Health, the largest healthcare group in the Middle East, is buying Circle Health Group, the UK’s largest operator of private hospitals.

The deal, valued at AED4.4 billion ($1.2 billion), is Pure Health’s first entry into the UK.

Based in Abu Dhabi, Pure Health has a network of more than 25 hospitals, 160 laboratories, 100 clinics and a workforce of more than 24,000.

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Circle Health Group provides services including orthopaedics, oncology, cardiothoracic surgery, ophthalmology, neurosurgery and general surgery. 

It is owned by Centene Corporation, a US healthcare enterprise and Fortune 500 company, which invested in the group in 2019 and acquired the remaining equity interests in July 2021. 

Farhan Malik, CEO of Pure Health, said the acquisition marked a milestone in its plan to create a global network that revolutionises patient care. 

Circle Health Group comprises 6,500 consultants, with two million patient visits per year generating nearly AED48 billion ($13 billion) in revenue. It was the first European healthcare provider to enter the Chinese market. 

Pure Health previously completed a AED1.8 billion purchase of an equity investment in Ardent Health Services, the fourth largest private healthcare group in the US. 

It aims to invest in innovation and infrastructure within all its assets, it said, which include Daman, Pure Lab and Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre.

“Our mission is to drive scientific innovation to unlock longevity and greater quality of life for humankind,” said Malik.