(Bloomberg) -- Singaporean medical services provider Fullerton Healthcare Corp. has chosen Bank of America Corp. to advise it on a sale as the coronavirus pandemic drives increasing interest in health care companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The potential sale would not include Fullerton Health’s operations in Australia, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The owners of the medical chain, including Singaporean private equity firm SIN Capital Group, are reviving the previously stalled sale because the pandemic has helped boost Fullerton Health’s business, said one of the people.
The company’s annualized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for 2020 were about S$149 million ($112 million), another person said. The sale process could begin as soon as this quarter, the person said.
Deliberations are ongoing and the owners could choose not to proceed with the sale, the people said. A representative for Bank of America declined to comment. Representatives for Fullerton Health and SIN Capital did not respond to requests for comment.
The owners of the Singaporean firm would join Malaysia’s Sunway Group in seeking to sell a health-care business in the region, Bloomberg News has reported. A transaction would add to the $14.4 billion in health-care services deals that were completed in Asia Pacific in the past 12 months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Fullerton Health was exploring options including a sale of the company or a spinoff of its digital unit in last year, Bloomberg News reported. The Singapore-based hospital operator had also sought an initial public offering back in 2018 in the U.S. after shelving plans to list in the city-state in 2016, people familiar with the matter said at the time.
Fullerton Health, which was founded in 2010, operates medical facilities in nine Asia-Pacific markets from China to Malaysia and Australia, offering general practitioner, screening and diagnostics services, according to its website. Backed by Ping An Insurance Group Co., the company is also working with WeDoctor in China to set up primary care and specialist outpatient clinics.