Bobath Memorial Hospital put up for sale

[THE INVESTOR] Bobath Memorial Hospital, one of South Korea’s leading rehabilitation hospitals, has been put up for sale as a way to end its court-led restructuring program started last year.

Suwon District Court kicked off the disposal process by hiring EY Han Young, a top accounting firm, as a sales adviser for the hospital owned by Neul Proon Medical Foundation, according to a source on Aug. 16. 

The deal could be worth some 100 billion won (US$91.5 million).

People familiar with the matter expect other local rehab hospitals and private equity companies that invest in the health care industry will be interested in purchasing Bobath Memorial Hospital, as it has recently generated stable revenues of around 40 billion won per year.

The hospital, which specialized in health care for the elderly, was placed under debt rescheduling in September 2015 by a district court after suffering a liquidity crunch that stemmed from excessive investment in building new retirement and nursing homes.

As of the end of 2015, Bobath Memorial Hospital had 101.3 billion won in assets and 84.2 billion won in debt.

Potential buyers include local private equity firm IMM PE and personalization platform for e-commerce Dable, as well as Q Capital Partners and SBI Investment.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com">hnpark@heraldcorp.com)