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MONEY:  France’s development finance firm Proparco and East African private equity firm Ascent have acquired a majority stake in Diani Beach Hospital (“DBH”) in their quest for a piece of Kenya’s healthcare sector.

The stake which was acquired through the Rift Valley Fund II LP, comes after the equity fund manager raised Sh11.8 Billion (100 $ million) last year as part of Ascent Rift Valley Fund II (ARVF II). Increasing appetite for investment in the healthcare sector comes on the back of another acquisition two months ago by Ascent where they inked another significant equity stake of  Valley Hospital Limited in Nakuru.

Eye on healthcare sector

The two firms however did not disclose to Business Hub the value of the transactions involved only saying deal was a majority stake acquisition.

Damien Braud, Head of Equity for Africa and the Middle East at Proparco said the investment was made under a high-impact investment facility, FISEA+ initiative, which is dedicated to supporting Micro, small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa and is owned by Proparco’s parent company, the French Development Agency (“AFD”).

“The area where DBH operates is still largely underserved and we are excited about the growth potential that this represents. Healthcare is a core sector for Proparco and the investment also meets FISEA+’s mandate of supporting SMEs, particularly in rural areas,” said Damien.

Mergers and acquisitions have stirred Kenya’s healthcare sectors since 2020 when AAR Health Care Holdings Limited sold 54 per cent of its stake to Hospital Holding Limited.

In early last year a US based fund Group, Evergroup injected another Sh1.6 billion to grow the Avenue hospital network in the country.

Ascent says the rolling close of its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II last year positioned it as a leading SME fund manager in the region to empower ambitious entrepreneurs with capital and knowledge drawn from their loc al advisory teams.

The fund will provide funding to scalable SME businesses, helping to drive wider business and industrial development, particularly targeting the financial services, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and services, education, healthcare, and agro-processing sectors.

Dr Kawaljeet Singh Rekhi, the founder and CEO of Diani Beach Hospital said the investment paves the way for the next chapter of growth.