A US-based private equity fund backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will sell its stake in Nairobi’s Metropolitan and Ladnan hospitals for 1 billion shillings ($8.17 million), Business Daily newspaper reported, citing an unnamed transaction advisor.

Evercare Health Fund will sell a 54.9% stake in Metropolitan Group Holdings, the holding company that owns the two hospitals, to minority co-owner Metro Group Plc, which currently holds a 41.8% stake in the company.

The deal is worth 1.02 billion shillings and is on course to receive regulatory approval, the advisor told the newspaper.

Regulatory filings with the Competition Authority of Kenya indicate that the combined turnover of the two hospitals was above 1 billion shilling in 2021.

Metropolitan Hospital has a bed capacity of 134, while Ladnan has a 42-bed capacity, the report said.

Last week, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reaffirmed the foundation’s long-term commitment to Africa and working directly with countries to support breakthrough solutions in health, agriculture, gender equality, and other critical areas.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com)