PE firm Ascent Capital buys majority in Valley Hospital in Nakuru
Ascent Rift Valley Fund II LP, a leading East African private equity firm in the region has acquired a significant equity stake of Valley Hospital Limited (“Valley Hospital”) located in Nakuru City, Kenya.
David Owino, Managing Partner of Ascent Capital Advisory Services LLP commented, “We are very excited about the fund’s investment into Valley Hospital. It is a hospital with enormous potential, and we look forward to serving the residents of Nakuru County by offering high-quality affordable healthcare as well as working with the medical community and other stakeholders. Together with our strategic and operating partner, Rubik Health Africa LLP, we seek to positively impact the lives of the people of Nakuru County. ‘’ he explained.
Founded in 1996, Valley Hospital was one of the first private for-profit hospitals in Nakuru City and a pioneer in offering quality and affordable medical services to the residents of Nakuru. With 72 beds and accredited by all players in the insurance industry, Valley Hospital is one of the main hospitals in Nakuru County.
The Chairman and co-founder of Valley Hospital, Dr. Moses Okech commented “The partnership with Ascent is a first in Nakuru County and will build upon our foundation in striving to offer quality healthcare to residents of Nakuru and beyond”, he said.
CEO and co-founder of Valley Hospital, Mrs. Lydia Obwanga also commented ‘’ The investment by Ascent is expected to catalyze the growth and drive significant value in the inpatient and outpatient services and ancillary services such as the pharmacy, medical laboratory, theatre etc. and seek to be an internationally accredited hospital’, she said.
Mr. Owino said the acquisition of Valley Hospital, was part of its strategy to take a leadership role in investing in healthcare services where it is also pursuing Coastal based Diani Beach Hospital Limited (DBH) which operates a hospital in Ukunda on the southern Coast of Kenya with three satellite clinics in Kwale Town, Likoni Town, and Ukunda Town. The acquisition is however awaiting clearance from Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission.
Ascent last year raised $100 million (Sh10.7 billion) in its first close of Ascent Rift Valley Fund II which positioned it as a leading SME fund manager in the region to empower ambitious entrepreneurs with capital and knowledge drawn from their local advisory teams.
Key investors in ARVF II include leading Africa investors such as BIO (Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, British International Investment Group (formerly CDC), FMO (Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), IFC (the International Finance Corporation), Norfund (the Norwegian investment fund for developing countries), Proparco (a subsidiary of Agence Française de Development (AFD) focused on private sector development through AFD Group’s FISEA fund), SDG Frontier Fund, impact investors and major Kenyan pension funds.
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