Columbia Asia, part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management, has 27 hospitals and one clinic across India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
In a statement yesterday, Mitsui said it saw tremendous growth potential in the Columbia Asia platform, which is the only healthcare provider in Asia to operate hospitals in many countries under a |single brand, and one of the few |large, multinational providers in Asia to build the vast majority of its hospitals itself.
“Columbia Asia has proven more than 20 years that it can enter new markets across various countries and develop international, high-quality hospitals that meet the needs of the emerging middle class,” said Mitsui managing officer and chief operating officer for healthcare and service business unit Koji Nagatomi.
“The company has also established a firm presence in countries where healthcare spending and insurance coverage are going up at a rapid pace, which positions the firm well in coming decades,” it said.
Columbia Asia will use the proceeds from the Mitsui investment to continue to expand its network of hospitals across Asia, including several current development projects.
In addition, the company will open its first facility in Africa next month, a multispecialty clinic in Nairobi, Kenya under a new brand, Columbia Africa.
As part of its investment, Mitsui will gain two seats on the Columbia Asia board of directors and play a role in company operations.
Mitsui is also using the investment to expand its hospital business as the core of its healthcare strategy and will lookto form partnerships between Columbia Asia and some of the other healthcare companies in which Mitsui is an investor.