Back to the complete issue
Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Nile Scan isn’t partnering with Speed on Alex Medical bid

Nile Scan is bidding independently for a majority stake in Alexandria Medical Services and isn’t in talks to partner with a rival consortium on the acquisition, Nile Scan Managing Director Tarek Moharram told Enterprise. We picked up a story from Al Mal yesterday citing sources “in the know” that claimed Nile Scan was in talks to join forces with a consortium made of Speed Medical, Sharif El Akhdar’s LimeVest and Saudi’s Tawasol Holdings to snap up a 51.4% stake in Alexandria Medical Services, which is owned by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). Both Moharram and a separate source from one of the other parties involved told us the report is not true.

A partnership isn’t off the table — it’s just not what’s happening right now: “We're open to negotiate with all the interested parties and remain at an equal distance from them,” Moharram told us.

What a Nile Scan acquisition of Alex Medical would look like: Nile Scan looks to be planning to bring Alex Medical under a newly-launched investment platform. The company’s interest in the stake came after Nile Scan’s strategic manager, Elevate Private Equity (where Moharram is CEO) launched a USD 380 mn healthcare investment platform in partnership with Banque Misr investment arm Misr Capital. The new platform, Nile Misr Healthcare is currently eyeing six potential investment targets in areas spanning diagnostics, hospitals, pharma manufacturing, medical education and healthtech.

BACKGROUND: Alex Medical is the hot property in healthcare right now: Nile Scan — which is operated by Nile Misr Medical Holding — joins five other interested bidders who want to snap up ADCB’s stake, including Cleopatra Hospitals Group, Alexandria for Medical Investment Company (the majority shareholder of Mabaret Al Asafra Hospitals Group), healthcare investment firm Seha Capital, the UAE’s Global One Healthcare Holding, and a consortium that includes Speed Medical. M&A activity in the healthcare sector has been red-hot over the past two years — a trend that is expected to be sustained moving forward. The private healthcare industry in particular is fragmented, CHG CEO Ahmed Ezzeldin has previously said, making it ripe for consolidation.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.