Dubai - MENA Herald: Specialist private equity firm TVM Capital Healthcare Partners has registered a new emerging markets-focused fund under the Qualified Investor Fund regime (QIF) established by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The fund, TVM Healthcare III, intends to raise US$300 million to invest in up to 12 healthcare companies in the Middle East and North Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. TVM Capital Healthcare has identified a number of highly attractive investment opportunities in all three regions and will continue to focus on growth capital investments, following the course charted by its first two funds.
“Urbanization and socio-economic development in emerging markets are resulting in rapidly increasing demand for high quality healthcare. There is a real opportunity for private companies to complement the public sector, by stepping up to supply specialist services,” said Dr. Helmut M. Schuehsler, CEO of TVM Capital Healthcare Partners. “Although recent emerging market volatility may make fundraising challenging, it also creates attractive investment opportunities, especially in defensive sectors such as healthcare that benefits from solid long-term fundamentals.”
The two funds previously raised by TVM Capital Healthcare Partners since 2010 have invested in five companies, including UAE acute, ventilated care provider ProVita International Medical Center, which was sold to London-listed NMC Health in mid-2015.
“Our investment in ProVita and successful exit really showed how a specialist private equity investor can create value in emerging market healthcare,” Schuehsler said. “Having identified an unmet need for specialist long-term care, we cooperated with government agencies to develop a licensing regime for private providers, and built a thriving business over five years which made major contributions to the quality of life of patients on long-term ventilation.”
TVM Capital Healthcare Partners has also invested in both a rehabilitation center and a homecare provider in the United Arab Emirates, a medical devices manufacturer in Egypt and an IVF centre operating in the Middle East and India.
Mr. Arif Amiri the CEO of DIFC Authority, said: “The registration of a second fund by TVM Capital Healthcare under DIFC’s Qualified Investor Fund regime reiterates our commitment to positioning DIFC and Dubai as an attractive fund domicile destination in line with our 2024 growth strategy. With the rapid expansion of financial markets in our region as well as rising private wealth, there are clear indications to suggest that unique opportunities exist for a fund management hub to develop in this region. I am confident that the new fund will provide significant investment opportunities in the healthcare sector in the MENA, which is crucial in supporting innovation, transferring know-how and strengthening the excellence of healthcare in our region.”
The QIF fund regime, operated by the DIFC’s regulator, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), has been designed to promote Dubai as an asset management centre by facilitating fund registration while maintaining global best practice in regulation