MPIC acquires biggest hospital in Tarlac

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has acquired its eighth healthcare facility through a P187-million investment in Tarlac’s largest private hospital.

Its second hospital acquisition this year further strengthens MPIC’s foothold as the largest healthcare chain in the country.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, MPIC said it signed an investment agreement with officials of Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital (CLDH).

Under the agreement, MPIC paid P187 million to secure a 51-percent stake in CLDH, a 200-bed tertiary hospital founded in 1962 by 15 pioneering doctors led by late spouses Dr. Constante D. Quirino Sr. and Remedios P. Quirino, and Dr. Benjamin S. Paz.

“The funding will go towards the purchase of major medical equipment and the implementation of an infrastructure development plan highlighted by the construction of a new building to house new operating rooms, as well as additional patient beds and doctors’ clinics,” MPIC said.

Augusto P. Palisoc Jr., president and CEO of the MPIC Hospital Group, said CLDH is their first hospital investment in Luzon outside Metro Manila.

“Through our contributions by way of fresh capital, professional management assistance and group synergies, we hope to further expand the capabilities of CLDH so that residents of Central Luzon in general, and Tarlac in particular, can continue to receive first-class health care right in their home province,” Palisoc said.

MPIC said the transaction, which is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, is expected to be finalized in the third quarter this year.

CLDH is the eighth hospital investment of the MPIC Hospital Group following Makati Medical Center (2007), Davao Doctors Hospital (2008), Cardinal Santos Medical Center (2009), Riverside Medical Center (2010), Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (2010), Asian Hospital (2011) and De Los Santos Medical Center (June 2013).

“The investment in CLDH will increase the MPIC Hospital Group’s total bed capacity to 2,137 beds,” the company said.

MPIC Hospital Group aims for P1.2 billion in profits and as much as P17 billion in revenues by 2015. It also target reaching a bed capacity of 3,000 by acquiring one or two hospitals per year.