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US investment giant to acquire Dhaka Apollo for Tk1,000 crore The acquisition will be completed within the first half of 2020 Apollo Hospital Dhaka is set to join the network of Evercare hospitals operating across South Asia. Photo: TBS An American investment firm has signed a deal to acquire control of Apollo Hospitals Dhaka at a cost of around Tk1,000 crore. With this acquisition by the Evercare Group, STS Holdings Ltd, the current operator of Apollo Hospitals Dhaka, will join the network of Evercare hospitals operating across South Asia, including India, Pakistan, and Africa. The Evercare Group is wholly owned by The Evercare Health Fund, a $1 billion emerging markets healthcare fund managed by The Rise Fund, which is the impact investment platform of the US-based Texas Pacific Group. The United Kingdom's development financier CDC Group and some other significant investors are financing The Rise Fund. Impact funds are collective investment schemes in the form of alternative investment funds which always look for social impact of any planned investment in addition to financial returns. The current franchise agreement between Apollo and STS is going to expire in June this year. The acquisition will be completed within the first half of 2020, said a press release of the Texas Pacific Group on Monday. Credible sources told The Business Standard that the acquirer may end up having around 60 percent shares of STS Holdings if the deal is executed according to plan. "As we seek to improve health outcomes for patients, Evercare and CDC are the right partners to help expand our work in Bangladesh," said Bob Kundanmal, chairman of STS Holdings. "They will provide the expertise and resources required to strengthen our model and drive enhanced specialist services and quality health outcomes in the underserved market in Bangladesh," he added. Professor AHM Enayet Hussain, additional director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, told The Business Standard that this is the biggest foreign acquisition deal signed so far in the country's healthcare sector. He expects the acquirer to bring modern technology and expertise in the field of healthcare. "I hope they will keep healthcare affordable for the common people," added Enayet. Andrew Currie, chief operating officer of the Evercare Group, said his company is always ready to improve the condition of patients by increasing the quality of healthcare and reducing costs. The Business Standard reported in September last year that the US investment giant Texas Pacific Group was in talks with STS Holdings for buying a controlling stake in the latter. STS had once planned to offer shares in the stock market. But it reversed the decision last year because of market adversity and because some of its entrepreneurs had since been looking to transfer a portion of their stake to a good investor. STS began operations in 2005. It is operating as Apollo Hospitals Dhaka under a franchise agreement with India's Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. Apollo Hospitals Dhaka is a 425-bed multi-disciplinary super-specialty hospital. Since its inception to date, approximately 6,60,116 patients have registered and over 25,14,152 patients have availed out-patient consultation across over 29 disciplines. As part of the Evercare platform, STS will continue to strengthen Bangladesh's healthcare infrastructure by providing premium care via its expertise and state-of-the-art facilities. By being able to tap into the cross-regional Evercare platform and capabilities, STS will seek to streamline procurement, enhance clinical capabilities and optimise its operations, ultimately strengthening its quality of care. In addition to its existing hospital in Dhaka, STS's new Chattogram facility will further expand its reach. The 400-bed facility is almost ready to open soon. The Dhaka facility of STS was the first hospital in Bangladesh to receive the Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation in 2008. To date, it remains the only JCI-Accredited hospital in the country. JCI Accreditation is an international stamp for excellence in clinical practices in patient care and safety.

China backtracks on financing Chattogram burn unit China planned to investment Tk100 crore for the project China has decided not to finance the building of a burn and plastic surgery unit in Chattogram Medical College and Hospital because the hospital has not been able to arrange the required land for the purpose. After a Chinese delegation visited Chattogram Medical College and Hospital several times, an agreement was signed in 2016 with the Chinese government for building a 100-bed burn and surgery unit in the medical college. China planned to investment Tk100 crore for the project. "I have been trying to establish a burn unit in Chattogram for a long time. In 2016, a Chinese delegate visited the medical college and chose a 20-katha plot. The hospital agreed too," said Dr Samanta Lal Sen, chief national coordinator for plastic surgery and all burn projects in Bangladesh. In 2019, the hospital said the Japan International Co-operation Agency (Jica) would build a radiology unit on that plot. The then hospital administration had allocated the land for the Jica project in 2014, he added. The hospital, the Jica project coordinator and the Chinese delegation had several meetings at the health directorate, but they could not come up with a solution. It is quite frustrating that the burn unit will not be built because of a lack of land, he further said. The deputy director of the hospital Dr Akhtarul Islam acknowledged that the hospital had made a mistake, and said the problem had occurred after the hospital allocated the plot to both China and to Jica. Another Chinese delegation visited the hospital in 2018. In March that year, China agreed to fund the establishment of the burn unit. The Chinese Embassy wrote to the Economic Relation Division of the finance ministry requesting the final draft of the Letter of Exchange. The Chinese delegate said its government had approved the construction of the infrastructure of the burn unit. Meanwhile, the design of the building had been finished. Under these circumstances, getting approval to build the burn unit at any other place will take a few years. The Development Project Proposals (DPP) for the radiology and imaging unit have already been approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council. If the previously selected place is changed, new DPPs will have to be approved. The project has already taken five years, said Dr Lal. Though some places were proposed, neither China nor Jica agreed to them. There is 20-katha open space beside the administration building. After allocating a part of it to Jica, we proposed providing a 12-katha plot of land to China for building the burn unit. However, China did not agree, said Akhtarul Islam. Fires occur quite frequently in Chattogram, especially in the old shipbreaking industries, because the city is an industrial zone. The records of the Fire Service and Civil Defence reveal that were 726 fire incidents in Chattogram in 2019. Chittagong Medical College and Hospital is the only place that treats burn victims. There are 26 beds in the burn unit, but the facilities are inadequate and there is no intensive care unit. On average, 40-50 patients are treated here daily. There is also a shortage of nurses and other staff. That is why burn victims are often sent to Dhaka, said Dr Rafique Ahmed, head of the burn unit at the hospital.