METRO PACIFIC Hospital Holdings, Inc. (MPHHI) has shelved its plan to debut on the stock market as management prefers to keep the business private.

“I think I’ve been successful in convincing them (the board) not to conduct an IPO (initial public offering) for the hospitals space,” MPHHI President and Chief Executive Officer Augusto P. Palisoc, Jr. said in a press briefing in Makati yesterday.

The hospital unit of conglomerate Metro Pacific Holdings, Inc. (MPIC) has been mulling an IPO in the previous years, stating last February that the goal is to raise up to P15-20 billion in fresh capital for its expansion.

“I believe the course of action might be towards more on private transaction, possibly with another investor. It really depends on the funding requirements of MPIC actually,” Mr. Palisoc said.

“As far as the hospital group is concerned, we’ll just continue to deliver the good results we have been doing. The business is strong enough by itself,” he added.

MPIC Chief Finance Officer David J. Nicol noted that the interest rate environment is different now compared to when they first disclosed plans to conduct the IPO.

“What I’m saying is the funding environment is a lot more benign for us given the lower interest rates that we have been facing previously… The dynamics surrounding the idea of conducting an IPO has completely changed given the macro environment for our financing needs anyway,” Mr. Nicol said in the same briefing.

Mr. Nicol earlier said the amount to be raised from a potential IPO could be used to achieve the company’s goal to have up to 40 hospitals. This will involve the acquisition of smaller hospitals as the company now has control of several big players in the industry.

MPHHI operates a total of 14 hospitals offering about 3,200 beds. Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Asian Hospital, De Los Santos Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, Marikina Valley Medical Center, Inc., and Dr. Jesus C. Delgado Memorial Hospital.

The company also has interest in Davao Doctors Hospital, Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod, Central Luzon Doctors Hospital in Tarlac, West Metro Medical Center in Zamboanga, Sacred Heart Hospital of Malolos, Inc. in Bulacan and St. Elizabeth Hospital, Inc. in General Santos City.

The group has also expressed interest in Ortigas-based The Medical City, although it is waiting for the company to resolve internal ownership issues before stepping in.

MPHHI booked a 17% increase in aggregate revenues to P3.98 billion in the first quarter of 2019, on the back of a 10% jump in outpatient visits to 919,539 and a seven percent rise in in-patient admissions to 50,227. — Arra B. Francia

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