Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, says it has made a $28m equity investment to acquire a significant minority shareholding in the Cliniques Internationales du Maroc Group.
The business was founded in 1994 by Prof. Assad Chaara, an internationally renowned cardiologist who pioneered coronary angiography and catheterisation in Morocco, and the company has since grown into one of Morocco’s leading healthcare groups.
Vantage’s funding will enable the founding family to part-finance the extension of the existing clinic in Marrakech and the opening of new clinics in Tangier and Casablanca.
Thereafter, CIM Santé Group said it planned to further 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.
Chaara stated, “I am delighted to have witnessed the continued growth of CIM Santé Group over the past years. After helping to create a world-class centre of excellence in cardiology in Morocco, I am proud to pass the torch to my son, Dr. Fahd Chaara, who will work hand-in-hand with Vantage to further expand the CIM franchise.”
Speaking on the latest development, Dr. Chaara, Chief Executive Officer of CIM Santé Group, said, “We feel that, with Vantage’s financial support and strategic guidance, we are up for the challenge of building on the wonderful legacy created by my father and developing Morocco’s finest private-sector health group, housing a broad range of medical disciplines and covering all of the Kingdom’s major cities.
“With Vantage we will also investigate the opportunity of expanding the business into West Africa in the next few years.”
Luc Albinski, Managing Partner at Vantage Capital, further noted, “Vantage is proud to have concluded its largest growth-capital investment to date. It is always pleasing when our funds are applied towards building new, leading-edge infrastructure in Africa whether it takes the form of power plants, fibre networks, or hospitals.”
He added, however, that given the impact that world-class health care could have on patients and on their families, “in many cases saving lives that would prematurely succumb to heart disease and other medical conditions, this investment, at this time, with the COVID-19 epidemic raging, is a source of great joy and pride for the Vantage team.”
