Al Borg eying franchising and reference markets
Big Saudi lab group Al Borg plans to use franchising to grow rapidly with a consumer-led offer which includes imaging and primary care. It is also constructing two enormous reference labs in Riyad and Jeddah with the aim of seizing a market where Saudi spends billions. The group is also still eyeing a stock market listing.
Click here to read more about Al Borg in HBI Intelligence, and here to see the HBI Intelligence lab sector reports by country.
Al Borg has 72 facilities in Saudi Arabia, including all its labs and phlebotomy centres. It plans to grow sales 30% off the back of a new franchising model.
The listed business is already very consumer oriented. A contact at Arab Health tells us that half its total sales are already cash. It is launching a series of offers for the worried well as well as packages for the ten most common chronic conditions. Sophisticated marketing aims to extend the lifetime value of each customer.
Al Borg is looking to incorporate imaging and primary care into its offering with a series of centres which integrate these.
The two new reference labs include a complete genomic platform. Saudi sources told us that the country (public and private) outsourced a total of $1.2bn of reference tests in 2020. Al Borg wants to grab large share of that. “We currently offer maybe 2,000 tests – these labs will triple that and add genomics as well. We will not only avoid outsourcing these tests ourselves but we will also do a lot of work for the government.”
The group which also is present in eight countries across the UAE and Africa has sales of around US$300m. A listing planned for the summer of 2022 has been postponed but is still on the cards.
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