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AMERICAN
corporation Lombard Investments Inc. of California
announced Tuesday it has bought 18 percent of
Professional Services Inc. (PSI), owner and operator of
private tertiary-care hospital The Medical City.
The
Constitution caps at 40- percent foreign ownership of
local companies.
The
acquisition comes at a time when the Philippines is
eyeing to win a share of the billion-dollar global
medical-tourism industry.
A paper
by University of Asia and the Pacific vice president for
research Bernardo Villegas estimated the economic impact
of medical tourism to the Philippines as worth $11
million. But that was eight years ago, the latest
estimate available.
Villegas
said the Philippines doesn’t have a target revenue in
contrast with Singapore, which targets $3 billion in
revenue from the same industry by 2012, Thailand $2
billion by 2010, Malaysia $1 billion by 2010, and India
$2 billion by 2012.
A
500-bed hospital complex and 280 medical clinics,
Medical City is expanding to accommodate an additional
250 beds.
Lombard
managing director Pote Videt said in the company
announcement that The Medical City “is well-positioned
to benefit from the strong domestic demand for private
health care as well as a growing international medical
tourism industry....Lombard is pleased to become a
long-term investor and board member of PSI.”
The
company did not reveal how many seats it is entitled to
in the PSI board or how much in invested. The 2006 PSI
financial report to the Securities and Exchange
Commission showed its total equity was nearly P4
billion.
PSI
reported a 10-percent increase in gross profits in
2006—to P822.7 million from P745.5 million in 2005
mainly from patient services, which in 2006 rose to
P2.26 billion from just under P2 billion in 2005. The
2004 figure was P1.4 billion. Net income was P128
million in 2006, or a 135-percent increase from 2005 of
P54.3 million.
Lombard
said it is an international private-equity investment
manager with offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, and San
Francisco. In February, it announced a $18.9-million
investment in Krungthep Land Public Co. Ltd, one of
Thailand’s privately held, mid-sized residential home
builders.
Core
investors in Lombard’s funds include CalPERS, the Asian
Development Bank, and the World Bank private-sector arm
International Finance Corp.
BusinessMirror tried to reach The Medical City
executives including president Alfredo R.A. Bengzon but
failed to reach them. Asked for help, corporate
communications officer Nes Ramos said the executives
couldn’t be reached for comment either and he declined
comment for the moment. |
