Burjeel Holdings, an operator of private healthcare facilities in the UAE and Oman, was founded by Shamseer Vayalil and owned by VPS Healthcare. It opened its first hospital in the UAE in 2007 and over the next 15 years grew rapidly with a total of 16 hospitals and 23 medical centres in the UAE and Oman, trading under 5 brand names. It is planning to expand its horizons and move into the larger and more competitive healthcare markets of Saudi Arabia and Africa and to support this venture, aims to strengthen its balance sheet by going public on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange. An Initial Public Offering (IPO) was a success, raising $300 million and the trading debut is October 10th 2022.

The IPO

Burjeel is the first privately owned firm to go public in the UAE this year. Investor demand for listings in the Gulf has been strong this year, with the region emerging as a bright spot in a quiet IPO market globally. However, no other company going public in the UAE this year has priced its IPO at the bottom of the range, with all listings either coming at the top or at a fixed price.

The IPO on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange was priced at 2 dirhams a share, raising 1.1 billion dirhams ($300 million) for the firm and the selling shareholder VPS Healthcare Holdings. The upper end of the range was 2.45 dirhams. Chairman Shamsheer Vayalil  said that the offer price reflected the company desire to prioritize a supportive aftermarket performance post-listing. Burjeel received a total demand of 32 billion dirhams, implying an oversubscription level of 29 times even after it scaled down the IPO to a local affair, following a 15% stake purchase by a firm controlled by Abu Dhabi’s royal family.

Burjeel will receive proceeds of about 401 million dirhams for the IPO, which it intends to use to mostly pay down debt. The IPO pricing values it at 10.4 billion dirhams. A total of 550.7 million shares, or 11% of Burjeel’s total issued share capital, were sold in the IPO, including 350 million shares by VPS Healthcare. Dubai Islamic Bank acted as lead manager for the offering while International Securities acted as financial adviser. JPMorgan Securities was the capital markets adviser.

Burjeel Healthcare Facilities - UAE and Oman

Burjeel Holdings has five brands - Burjeel, Medeor Hospital, LLH Hospital, Lifecare Hospital and Tajmeel.

Founded in 2007, Burjeel Holdings is one of the leading regional private healthcare service providers in the UAE and Oman, operating as an integrated network across primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary care, with a network of 39 hospitals and medical centres with a total of 1660 beds It has an in-patient market share of approximately 17 per cent. and an out-patient market share of approximately 12 per cent.

Its key strengths:

• a focus on attracting, training and developing the best and most innovative consultants to drive medical advancements in the MENA region, through a unique culture of “physician-led” practices.
• a strong clinical team has been responsible for the Group’s growth to date and remains committed to delivering quality and clinical excellence going forward.
• highly specialised, complex and personalised services in oncology, orthopaedics and spine, woman care and paediatrics.
  
• The UAE and Oman healthcare markets benefit from strong fundamentals and growth drivers which support the Group’s expansion.
• The UAE and Oman increased their healthcare expenditure from U.S.$12.4 billion and U.S.$2.9 billion, respectively, in 2016, to U.S.$18.0 billion and U.S.$3.5 billion, respectively, in 2021. They are expected to further expand healthcare investments to U.S.$34.0 billion and U.S.$5.3 billion, respectively, by 2031.
• The Group has a private market leading position in the UAE in terms of volumes, with a total bed capacity of 1,660 beds as at 30 June 2022 and 4.8 million out-patients and 104,965 in-patients treated across its hospital network in 2021, representing a UAE private market in-patient market share as at 30 June 2021 of approximately 17 per cent.
• The Group’s integrated healthcare network serves patients in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai & the Northern Emirates in the UAE, as well as Oman, across all healthcare segments and covers the full socio-economic spectrum through the Group’s four leading brands.
• The Group has a strong and well-invested medical services portfolio that is built around an integrated “hub and spoke” feeder network across primary, secondary and tertiary segments.
• The Group has a track record of strong financial performance and consistent growth that has been driven by its ramp-up of assets launched in recent years and supported by its focus on treating a higher-end patient mix and cost optimisation.

Burjeel's Strategy

Burjeel Holdings’ growth strategy is focused on a number of key areas:

Ramping up of growth assets

The Group intends to increase patient volumes in its medium-growth and high-growth assets by increasing in-patient capacity utilisation, together with increased out-patient capacity utilisation offering a significant upside.

Increasing patient yield

In addition to expanding the range of services provided at its medical facilities, the Group also intends to optimise the utilisation and revenue-generating capabilities of its existing services and facilities, thereby maximising patient yield. The Group will also continue to develop and enhance its complementary long-term care and rehabilitation services that are provided through Burjeel Darak and its central diagnostics and radiology services that are provided through Co-Lab.

Operational excellence

The Group intends to continue to focus on enhancing its patients’ experience through the provision of personalised care underpinned by a strong digital backbone that optimises operational performance. The Group will continue to invest in its systems and controls, centralisation of services and upgrades of the digital capabilities to ensure that they drive best practice across its operations and support the continued delivery of high-quality services while also enhancing efficiencies and profitability.

Geographic expansion

In addition to continued organic growth, over the next five years, the Group intends to expand its portfolio in the Middle East and Africa, and particularly the KSA, by entering into joint ventures, partnerships and similar arrangements with strong, local partners.

After this successful IPO, if Burjeel successfully implements its plans, we expect to see a large number of jobs created across the MENA region soon.

Applications for jobs in the MENA region medical sector

If you are interested in working in the MENA region, please register your CV and contact us to discuss opportunities. Advertised jobs can be viewed on the website and applications made by submitting a CV which should be recent and reflect the credentials required for the job as set out in the job description.

Candidates for medical jobs will require a DataFlow report and guidance on how to obtain one is detailed in our guide to the DataFlow Report.