OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I, a Finnish global emerging markets impact fund anchored by Finnfund, has invested $10 million in equity capital in CIM Santé Group, a Moroccan private healthcare group.
The deal comes a little more than a year after Vantage Capital, Africa’s leading mezzanine debt provider, made a $28 million equity investment to help the healthcare group expand its network of private clinics.
CIM Santé was founded in 1994 by Assad Chaara, a pioneer in developing cardiac catherization in Morocco. The cardiology-focused group operates three clinics in Rabat, Marrakech and Tangier, comprising a total of 320 beds. Its latest clinic, the Clinique Internationale de Tanger, opened in August 2021.
The group also owns radiology centres and laundry service companies and has tie-ups with several medical laboratories. In 2020, CIM Santé Group employed 360 people and treated around 50,000 people.
With the funding provided by OP Finnfund and Vantage Capital, CIM Santé Group plans to extend its flagship clinic in Marrakech and expand its operations to Casablanca to meet the increasing demand for healthcare services.
Thereafter, the group plans to strengthen its position in the Moroccan market by adding more clinics to its portfolio as well as entering new markets in the rest of Africa.
Tuomas Virtala, head of asset management at OP Corporate Bank, said: “Through this investment, we can increase accessibility of quality healthcare services for Moroccans and foster female empowerment in the sector. This fits perfectly with the investment strategy of OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I.”
Luc Albinski, managing partner at Vantage Capital, added: “We are confident that in a few years’ time, CIM Santé Group will be one of the biggest private multi-disciplinary healthcare groups in Morocco.”
OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I raised a total of €135 million. It is run by OP Asset Management, part of OP Financial Group, one of the largest banking groups in Finland. OP Fund Management Company acts as an alternative investment fund manager of the fund with Finnfund, a Finnish development financier and impact investor, being an advisor and anchor investor in the fund.
– Capital Quest