Parkway to run private hospital in Sabah

Parkway Holdings Ltd, the Singapore hospital operator, said it will lease and operate a RM200 million (US$65 million) private hospital that will be built in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Parkway, controlled by Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Bhd, signed an agreement with Jesselton Wellness Sdn Bhd, a special-purpose vehicle set up to develop the hospital that is part-owned by an investment arm of Sabah’s state government, the company said in a statement.

Danajamin Nasional Bhd, a Malaysian state bond insurer, will guarantee RM200 million of notes that will be issued to finance the project, it said.

By Bloomberg

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KPJ to open 4 new medical centres

KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Malaysia's leading private healthcare provider, is on target to open four new medical centres by 2012 to add to its stable of 20 hospitals.

KPJ Healthcare, a member of the Johor Corp Group, is expected to spend nearly RM500 million on the hospitals in Bandar Baru Klang in Selangor, Pasir Gudang and Muar in Johor, and Sabah Medical Centre in Kota Kinabalu.

Its managing director, Datin Paduka Siti Sa'diah Sheikh Bakir, said it had other hospitals in the pipeline but they would be built later.

"The construction of the four hospitals is in progress and the Klang hospital, which costs nearly RM100 million including equipment, is expected to open next year.
"The RM200 million Sabah Medical Centre and the Muar and Pasir Gudang hospitals, which cost RM70 million and RM90 million respectively, are expected to open in 2012," she told reporters in Kota Baru, Kelantan, yesterday.

Siti Sa'diah was speaking after the presentation of the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) accreditation to its hospital, Perdana Specialist Hospital, and the subsequent change of its name to KPJ Perdana Specialist Hospital.

KPJ Perdana is the ninth hospital in the group which has received the international-standard accreditation. The others are KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, KPJ Johor Specialist Hospital, KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital, KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital, KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital, KPJ Seremban Specialist Hospital, KPJ Kajang Specialist Hospital and Kedah Medical Centre.

Siti Sa'diah said it had targeted four hospitals to achieve the accreditation this year and had managed to do so.

"We hope to get another four hospitals to receive the accreditation next year," she said.

The accreditation was presented by MSQH chief surveyor Dr Mary Abraham to the chairman of KPJ Perdana Specialist Hospital, Aminudin Dawam.

By Business Times

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KPJ to inject assets into REIT

KPJ Healthcare Bhd is set to raise RM138.7 million by injecting three of its hospital buildings into a real estate investment trust (REIT) scheme called Al-'Aqar KPJ REIT.

KPJ managing director Datin Paduka Siti Sa'diah Sheikh Bakir said under the scheme, the healthcare group will in return get a combination of RM1.1 million in cash and the balance in new Al-'Aqar KPJ REIT units.

The exercise involves the sale of two hospital buildings here - the Bandar Baru Klang Specialist Hospital in Selangor and the Kluang Utama Specialist Hospital in Johor.

The third hospital is the Rumah Sakit Bumi Serpong Damai building in Jakarta, Indonesia.



To retain the use of the buildings, the group in turn will rent the buildings via a 15-year lease with an option to extend the tenure for another 15 years.
The asset injection will allow the group to unlock value and realise its investment in the properties, Siti Sa'adiah said.

Proceeds from the asset sales will be used to pare down the group's borrowings and trim the gearing to 0.4 times from 0.5 times and an interest cost-savings of about RM2.2 million a year.

"This will enable us to gain access into funds in our plans to build new hospitals next year such as in Pasir Gudang, Kuantan, Klang, Muar and in Sabah," she told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after Al-'Aqar KPJ REIT's annual shareholder meeting.

Al-'Aqar KPJ REIT is the first and largest Islamic healthcare REIT in Malaysia and managed by Damansara REIT managers Sdn Bhd, which is a member of the Johor Corp Group (JCorp).

The sale and leaseback of the three hospitals is the fourth tranche of the REIT's injection since its launch in 2006.

The first tranche involved the injection of six hospital buildings valued at RM481.2 million, the second involved the sale of five buildings for RM170.0 million and the third comprised seven hospital buildings and one nursing college for RM292.5 million.

With the injection, Al-'Aqar KPJ REIT's total enlarged units stands at 636.8 million units with a total of 22 hospital buildings under its scheme, one nursing college, the Selesa Hotel, Metropolis Tower and another two properties in Jakarta.

Upon completion of the proposed acquisitions, the enlarged total asset value will be more than RM1.2 billion.

Al-'Aqar KPJ REIT will seek listing and quotation for its consideration units of 56.6 million units on the Main Board of Bursa Securities.

By Business Times

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Columbia Asia opens Shah Alam hospital

Malaysia-based international healthcare provider, Columbia Asia Group today officially opened its new Columbia Asia Hospital-Bukit Rimau in Shah Alam, developed at a cost of RM67 million.

"There is an increasing demand for affordable healthcare services and we are excited to bring this new hospital to residents in Bukit Rimau and the surrounding communities," said Chief Executive Officer, Southeast Asia, Columbia Asia Group, Kelvin Tan.

"This facility will also augment our other seven hospitals in Malaysia in line with our goal of becoming the preferred choice for employers, insurance companies and middle-income families across Asia," he said in a statement here today.

The hospital in Bukit Rimau is the eighth Columbia Asia community hospital in Malaysia after one each in Miri and Bintulu in Sarawak, Seremban, Taiping, Shah Alam, Puchong and Nusajaya (Johor).

It plans to open three more hospitals namely in Cheras Selatan and Setapak in Kuala Lumpur and in Seremban. These hospitals are expected to be operational in phases from early next year to 2012.

Tan said there has been an exponential increase in the number of people who are medically insured by employers and insurance companies.

In Malaysia, over 70 per cent of Columbia Asia’s revenues are received from third party payers.

By Bernama

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Pantai plans Gleneagles hospital in Iskandar

PANTAI Holdings Bhd plans to build an estimated RM500 million hospital in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, to help provide more world-class healthcare services in the country.

The hospital, to be called Gleneagles Medini Hospital, will be built on a 6ha site that Pantai is buying.

The land is in the mixed development area of Medini, Iskandar, the group said in a statement yesterday. It said Gleneagles Medini Hospital will be jointly developed with Global Capital & Development Sdn Bhd (GCD).

An agreement was signed between GCD, a consortium led by Mubadala Development, and Pantai's wholly-owned Pantai Hospital Johor Sdn Bhd.

"This development will set new benchmarks for quality healthcare to reinforce Malaysia's capacity in delivering world-class medical services to both Malaysians and foreign partners," Pantai chairman Khairil Anuar Abdullah said in the statement.

The healthcare complex will eventually comprise a 300-bed private tertiary hospital and a 150-suite medical office block with centres of excellence.

GCD chief executive Keith Martin said the group is proud to be working with Pantai. "The high standards set by Pantai are aligned with GCD's vision to ensure the best in planning, design and management within Medini."

By Business Times

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