Dubai-based Aster DM Healthcare is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange within the next three years but is waiting to analysis the full impact the Brexit process has on the British market before making any final decision, according to the company’s senior executives.
Founded in 1987, Aster DM Healthcare operates across 21 hospitals, 113 clinics and 219 pharmacies in nine countries and in February 2018 it launched an initial public offering (IPO) on the Bombay Stock Exchange, raising $153 million from a 10 percent stake.
“Is there a requirement to be listed in more than one geography? We are listed in Mumbai now, so should we be listed in London also? Should we be listed in Dubai also? We are looking at those opportunities,” chairman and founder Dr Azad Moopen told Arabian Business during an interview at the company’s headquarters in Dubai’s Business Bay.
“The next two or three years we will be looking at opportunities for a listing in other markets also… So what’s happening is that in India they are now considering seriously allowing dual listing so we can, without much effort, list the company in London also, if that comes through. Otherwise it is an effort to delist here and go to London. So we are looking at this opportunity,” he added.
Brexit factor
Alisha Moopen, executive director and CEO of Aster and Medcare Hospital & Clinics, added that a key factor in the decision whether to list in London will be the impact of the Brexit process, which is still unclear.
“When we were taking the call two, three years ago we knew that that [Brexit] was something which might be coming up. So we said we will take a measured approach, as in, when the time arises. And now, once you see how that impacts the London Stock Exchange, does it make sense for us to go over there? I guess those [issues] are sort of depending on how the market perceives it… We can take a call,” she said.
NMC Health, another UAE-based healthcare brand, listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2012.
The executives also told Arabian Business earlier this month that the firm is looking at potential acquisitions in Europe and Australia and has been approached to use its experience in India and the GCC to enter the African market as an operator, according to the company’s senior executives.
The company is currently three years into a five-year expansion plan and has so far invested AED750 million ($204 million) of the AED1 billion it plans to spend.
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