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Scandal-Hit NMC Health Sells Fertility Business to Fresenius

Scandal-Hit NMC Health Sells Fertility Business to Fresenius

Middle Eastern hospital operator NMC Health, which collapsed earlier this year after uncovering billions in hidden debt, agreed to sell its lucrative fertility business to German health-care company Fresenius SE.

NMC will sell the Eugin Group to Fresenius Helios for an enterprise value of 430 million euros ($525 million), it said in a statement on Monday. The deal is expected to be completed by the first half of next year.

Founded by Indian entrepreneur Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, NMC had a market value of $10 billion at its peak on the London Stock Exchange before allegations of fraud pushed it into administration. The firm has revealed more than $4 billion of undisclosed borrowings, giving it total debt of $6.6 billion.

Shetty has said that he is the victim of a fraud that also resulted in the collapse of NMC’s sister company, foreign-exchange operator Finablr, which is selling its business to an Israeli-UAE consortium for $1.

“Earlier this year, we made the strategic decision to focus our resources on our core Middle Eastern assets and this was the key driver behind the decision to pursue a sale of Eugin Group,” said NMC Healthcare chief executive officer Michael Davis.

The deal comes as rising infertility rates and cuts in government budgets drive growth in private treatment centers. “Demographic and health trends, as well as changing lifestyle choices have proven to be strong and sustainable underlying growth drivers of the fertility market in recent years,” Fresenius said in a statement.

Fresenius expects the deal to be “highly accretive” to net income in 2021.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.