Race for Alex Medical to heat up later this month: A consortium of Mabaret Al Asafra Hospitals and investment firm Tana Africa Capital will submit an offer to acquire 100% of Alexandria Medical Services before the end of March, intensifying the race for the healthcare player, Al Mal reports, citing sources close to the transaction. Tana Africa, which holds a minority stake in Mabaret Al Asafra, plans to cover a “big part” of the transaction and is also mulling loans from local banks, the sources said. Mabaret Al Asafra’s board is due to sit down in the coming days to hash out the final details of the bid, they added.Tana and Mabaret Al Asafra first lodged interest in Alex Medical back in January, reportedly reaching out to the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) which acquired its 51.5% stake. Neither Mabaret Al Asafra nor Tana Capital were available to comment on the story.

Bidding war heating up? A consortium made of Saudi’s Tawasol Holdings and Speed Medical subsidiary Speed Hospitals Company is also looking to acquire the firm. Tawasol — already a 26% shareholder of Alex Medical — is eyeing the remaining 74% stake in the company and will reportedly offer to purchase the shares at EGP 38.09 apiece. The two could potentially be joined by an unnamed local healthcare investor, sources said earlier this month. ADCB confirmed last week that it’s looking to offload its entire stake and tapped CI Capital as its sell-side advisor.