US PE firm Sycamore Partners has completed its $10 billion take-private of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), a US healthcare, pharmacy and retail company that owns UK pharmacy chain Boots. Sycamore has decided to separate off Boots, as expected.
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Is the profit motive at odds with impact investing goals in emerging market healthcare?
Last week Bloomberg accused US private equity firm TPG of putting profit before the interest of patients in various emerging market hospitals it has invested in. We spoke to TPG to get their response to the specific accusations made against them. We also spoke to others operating in Africa about whether there is, at a more general level, a tension between seeking profit whilst simultaneously seeking to achieve impact investing goals in emerging market healthcare.
September 4, 2025
Microsoft launches its AI scribe in the UK
Microsoft is releasing its AI scribe for clinicians, Dragon Copilot, in the UK on Thursday September 4. In a demo with HBI, Dr Simon Wallace, Chief Clinical Information Officer at Microsoft, explained why he believes the product has an edge over the numerous competitors in this space and a good shot at becoming the dominant supplier to the NHS.
September 4, 2025
Tensions between Indian providers and insurers “likely to continue” in the near term
Long-standing tensions between private Indian healthcare providers and insurers erupted into a major stand-off over the past two weeks. Many North Indian providers unilaterally decided to suspend cashless treatment for people insured by Bajaj Allianz, one of India’s biggest health insurers, because of complaints that claims were not being settled on time. This dispute has now been resolved, but we hear such tensions between providers and payors are a widespread issue in the Indian market and likely to continue in the near term.
September 4, 2025
Germany to make primary care flat-rate fee conditional on providing certain services from 2026
Germany will make the lump sum payments that primary care providers receive conditional on providing certain services, as part of the sector’s funding reforms laid out in the Health Care Strengthening Act. The intention is to incentivise practices to provide a full suite of basic services.
September 2, 2025
Two Aussie imaging groups snapped up by PE firms
Two medium sized Australian radiology providers have been bought by private equity firms in separate transactions this month. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that the country’s largest imaging group, I-MED, may IPO, after a failed sale attempt.
August 28, 2025
Gimv buys Novicare from Gilde Healthcare
Belgian PE firm Gimv has bought a majority stake in Novicare, a Dutch healthcare staffing company, from Dutch specialist healthcare PE investor Gilde Healthcare. Rune Aresvik, an expert on the Dutch healthcare market, tells us Novicare’s relatively unique business model has potential to be scaled within the Netherlands and possibly exported to other European countries.
August 28, 2025
Portugal’s competition authority is concerned private healthcare consolidation may have caused price increases
The recently opened investigation into the merger of two of Portugal's biggest private hospital groups — CUF and HPA — by the competition watchdog (AdC) has highlighted concerns about a possible causal connection between price increases seen in the sector and the sector’s trend towards consolidation. AdC tells us, however, that the evidence uncovered so far has only been correlational.
August 28, 2025
Inflexion sells European LifeCare Group to Findos
European mid-market PE firm Inflexion has sold European LifeCare Group (ELCG), a Denmark-based outpatient group focused on providing vaccination services with clinics in four European countries, to German PE firm Findos.
August 27, 2025
Terveystalo to take MedHelp private and integrate it into its digital occupational health service
Listed Swedish digital occupational health provider MedHelp may be taken private by Finnish outpatient group Tervestaylo alongside MedHelp’s Chairman. If the offer is accepted, Terveystalo plans to gradually integrate MedHelp’s platform into Terveystalo’s own digital occupational health services in Finland.
August 1, 2025
Asia’s largest dialysis chain NephroPlus to IPO
Indian dialysis chain NephroPlus is to become a listed company. The group has filed a draft red herring prospectus with India’s capital markets regulatory body, the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
July 31, 2025
Ardian acquires domiciliary care provider Dovida (formerly part of Home Instead)
French PE firm Ardian has acquired domiciliary care provider Dovida, a Swiss-based company that was formerly part of US-based multinational franchise Home Instead.
