Waha Capital targets UAE healthcare acquisitions: CEO

Waha, based in Abu Dhabi, said last month that profit surged 43% in 2013 to 306.4mn dirhams ($83.4mn).

Bloomberg/DubaiWaha Capital, the investor that owns a stake in plane-leasing company Aercap Holdings, is seeking healthcare acquisitions in the UAE after Dubai announced mandatory health insurance.“We’re looking for targets across the UAE,” chief executive officer Salem Rashid al-Noaimi said in an interview in Abu Dhabi. “Health care is currently a small piece of the pie for us, but the ambition is that in five years it becomes a solid contributor to our bottom line.”Companies are seeking to capitalise on rising demand for healthcare services amid an increase in diseases such as diabetes in the Gulf. Obesity-related diseases may cost the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council $68bn a year by 2022 in lost output and treatment costs, almost double the 2013 figure, Booz & Co said in a December study. Five of the countries, including the UAE, are among the world’s top 10 for diabetes rates, according to consultants Frost & Sullivan.Dubai, the second-biggest UAE emirate after Abu Dhabi, will require its residents and visitors to have compulsory health insurance from their employers or sponsors, it said in November. Abu Dhabi has it already. Waha, which acquired Anglo Arabian Healthcare group last year, also expects the UAE’s northern emirates to impose compulsory insurance, al-Noaimi said.The company, based in Abu Dhabi, said last month that profit surged 43% in 2013 to 306.4mn dirhams ($83.4mn), helped by investments such as in Aercap and UAE consumer finance company Dunia Finance.AerCap in December agreed to buy International Lease Finance Corp from American International Group for $5bn to create an aircraft lessor rivalling General Electric’s Gecas unit for size.“AerCap is going through a transformational transaction,” al-Noaimi said. Although the deal will cut Waha Capital’s stake to about 14% from 26%, “obviously EPS is the name of the game,” he said.