Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE health firm Burjeel plans Saudi expansion as IPO nears

By Reuters
A Burjeel hospital Burjeel
VPS Healthcare Holdings will continue to own a majority 70% stake in Burjeel following the listing.
  • Burjeel is in talks to partner with public and private healthcare facilities
  • Burjeel Holdings will be listed on Abu Dhabi’s stock exchange this year

UAE healthcare provider Burjeel Holdings, established under VPS Healthcare, on Wednesday announced plans to expand into Saudi Arabia ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) later this year.

The company, which owns and operates hospitals and other healthcare facilities, will invest up to $1 billion in the Kingdom by 2030 as part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of Investment that includes working with local institutions.

“It’s a non-binding MoU but we are taking it seriously and I think the market is big. The potential is huge and we think that it is an achievable number,” CEO Shamsheer Vayalil told Reuters by phone.

Burjeel is in talks to partner with public and private healthcare facilities, including hospitals, in Saudi Arabia, he said.

“Our deployment will be more towards capex and towards operating … such assets and probably some refurbishment based on the condition of those assets that we are targeting right now.”

The investments in Saudi Arabia will likely be financed with project debt, though no talks with banks have begun, the CEO said.

Reuters reported in April that the Emirati healthcare firm hired JPMorgan and the investment banking arm of Dubai’s biggest lender Emirates NBD for the stock market listing.

Potential Listing

Burjeel Holdings was set up by Vayalil ahead of a potential listing, while certain entities not part of the public offering will remain under the VPS group.

EFG Hermes and Dubai Islamic Bank are global coordinators on the deal, Vayalil said.

Burjeel Holdings will be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) this year, he said. The exact timing has yet to be determined but “we are exploring the soonest window possible”, he added.

The value of the business and size of the IPO have yet to be determined, though a minority stake is expected to be offered.

“We have to get the feedback to get to the final number,” Vayalil said regarding how much the IPO could raise.  

Latest articles

Investor Tim Draper told AGBI the US must 'swing back to freedom' to avoid losing innovation to countries such as the UAE

Tim Draper: UAE benefits from US crypto ‘overregulation’

Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper has criticised the US for its restrictive stance on cryptocurrency, claiming it is driving innovators towards more encouraging and friendlier markets such as the UAE. The Gulf state is actively developing regulatory frameworks to lure new forms of business, amid intense regional economic competition. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have set […]

A subsidiary of Banque Misr will open the first digital-only bank in Egypt this year

Egypt to open first digital bank later this year

Misr Digital Innovation will open Egypt’s first digital bank towards the end of the year, as it looks to appeal to the North African’s country’s younger and unbanked demographic. MTI, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, is the first bank to have received approval to establish a digital bank by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) […]

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries which will receive the investment from AIDA and US-based KKR

Abu Dhabi’s ADIA invests in Indian warehouses

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and the US-based private equity firm KKR have invested INR 12,000 crore ($1.5 billion) in India’s Reliance Retail Ventures’ warehousing assets.  Both companies have invested equal amounts in Reliance Logistics and Warehouse Holdings (RLWH), The Economic Times, an Indian financial daily, reported, citing informed sources.  RLWH was established in […]

Saudi Arabia’s industry and mineral resources minister Bandar Al-Khorayef. The country is struggling to meet an FDI target of $100bn a year by 2030

Saudi industry minister tempts investors with funding incentives

Saudi Arabia’s ministry of investments and mineral resources is prepared to finance up to 75 percent of industrial projects in the country, as the kingdom tries to boost its low foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers.  Bandar Al-Khorayef, the minister of industry and mineral resourcespointed to well-developed infrastructure across 36 industrial cities, prefabricated factories ready to […]