Demand fuelled for high-quality healthcare services, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

Over a week ago, Dubai and Singapore-headquartered TVM Capital Healthcare announced the closing of a significant equity investment in Vietnamese eye care business Alina Vision, which currently operates two hospitals in Vietnam.

Alina Vision was established by international development organisation The Fred Hollows Foundation in 2018. Over the past five years, Alina Vision has received financial backing, eye surgery training, and clinical support from the Fred Hollows Foundation and Japan’s Rohto Pharmaceutical.

TVM Capital Healthcare is an emerging markets-focused healthcare private equity firm with a focus on specialised and tech-enabled healthcare services, digital health solutions and platforms, as well as manufacturing companies in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics.

As an industry specialist growth capital investor, TVM Capital Healthcare not only provides Alina Vision the equity investment but also access to operational, clinical, training, and management resources. This will help Alina Vision to accelerate the growth plans while improving quality of care.

Hoda Abou-Jamra, managing director of TVM Capital Healthcare in Southeast Asia, commented, “This deal marks the most substantial investment by TVM Capital Healthcare in the region to date. This investment is testament to our impact investment strategy, which is to design, build, and scale promising healthcare solutions that address patients’ needs and fill market gaps, ultimately contributing to equal access to quality healthcare.”

In December, Singapore-based Sweef Capital also made an investment in USM Healthcare, a Vietnamese manufacturer of critical cardiovascular products. The deal follows Sweef’s first investment in Vietnamese education technology company TEKY in May 2023.

Sweef Capital focuses on investing equity and quasi-equity capital in growth-stage companies, primarily in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Sweef’s investment in USM was a pivotal step advancing the cause of accessible and affordable healthcare in Vietnam, it said.

Also last month, Singaporean healthcare entity Thomson Medical Group announced the completion of the FV Hospital deal, marking Vietnam’s largest transaction to date and ranking among the top-tier healthcare acquisitions in Southeast Asia in 2023. This pivotal step will further propel Thomson’s regional ambitions, expanding its network’s scale and enhancing our value proposition.

“Vietnam’s healthcare sector has emerged as a beacon of resilience, attracting strong interest from global and regional investors,” said Huong Trinh, partner at BDA Partners. “In times of economic downturn, the healthcare sector is a resilient stronghold. Healthcare services are a fundamental necessity, unaffected by fluctuations in the broader economy. Regardless of economic challenges, people continue to require medical care and services, making the healthcare sector a pillar of stability for investors.”

Vietnam’s demographic shift is also fuelling the demand for higher-quality healthcare services, making it a fertile ground for investment, Trinh stressed.

According to KPMG in Vietnam, the enthusiasm in the nation’s healthcare market is not one-sided. In fact, investors’ interest and enthusiasm to invest are welcomed by sellers and their intention to transact on the other side.

Specifically, in addition to ongoing deals, some owners or investors of certain primary care clinics and speciality hospitals are also said to be in the market looking to do deals. Their motivations vary from case to case, and while some are in the market raising new capital to accelerate their growth plan, some others look to exit completely or carve out certain individual assets in their portfolio, the KPMG representative added.