Singapore’s GIC has acquired a 16% stake in Malaysia’s Sunway Healthcare Holdings for RM750m (€151m).

Sunway Healthcare, part of listed Sunway Berhad, currently operates two tertiary hospitals with a combined capacity in excess of 800 beds and more than 400 consultant specialists.

Sunway Healthcare’s managing director, Lau Beng Long, said GIC’s participation augured well to support the expansion of its existing hospitals and the setting up of new hospitals across Malaysia.

The expansion is expected to increase capacity to about 3,000 beds.

Choo Yong Cheen, GIC’s chief investment officer of private equity, said: “We are confident in the long-term growth potential of the company, given its award-winning operating track record and focus on providing state-of-the-art medical infrastructure.”

Amit Kunal, GIC’s head of direct investments group (Southeast Asia), private equity, said the sovereign wealth fund believed private healthcare in Malaysia would benefit from trends such as an ageing population, the expanding and rising affluence of its middle class, and robust healthcare insurance penetration.

GIC owns healthcare and healthcare-related investments across public and private markets in the US, Australia, Brazil, Philippines, China and Vietnam.

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