A pair of prominent United Arab Emirates companies announced agreements with Saudi Arabia's Hassana Investment Company at the end of the second day of the Future Investment Initiative on Wednesday.

A Saudi government agency published a press release stated that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between Hassana Investment Company - an investment vehicle owned by the Saudi government's General Organization for Social Insurance - and by Abu Dhabi's NMC Health "to target investments valued up to SAR 6 billion" ($1.6 billion) in the kingdom's healthcare sector over the next five years.

The pair will form a joint venture "to acquire and develop a pan-Saudi Arabia network of world-class healthcare facilities" containing up to 3,000 beds and employing up to 10,000 people, the statement said.

The joint venture already has almost half (1,489) of these beds at inception, the statement said, with NMC Health contributing 664 beds in five facilities to the company, and Hassan Investment Company adding two National Medical Care hospitals with a combined 825 beds.

Prasanth Manghat, chief executive officer of NMC Health, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, said in the statement that "the proposed partnership between NMC and GoSI/Hassana would offer a tremendous opportunity for both companies to better serve the KSA healthcare market".

Hassana's CEO Saad Bin Abdulmohsin Alfadly, added: “The proposed partnership between Hassana and NMC is driven by our view that healthcare in Saudi Arabia is one of the most attractive markets for strong long-term growth. The proposed JV has ambitious growth plans across different healthcare sub-sectors, with both partners committed to compounding returns over the long-term."

In a separate announcement, it was revealed that Hassana Investment Company had also signed a deal with Dubai-based GEMS Education, the privately-owned schools operator, to target investment opportunities together worth more than 3 billion Saudi riyals ($800 million) in the kingdom over the next decade.
This will involve developing a network of schools for up to 130,000 students employing up to 16,000 people - at least 40 percent of whom will be Saudi nationals. The network will be developed both by acquiring and upgrading existing schools, as well as building new schools.

GEMS CEO Majed Al Mutairi was quoted in the statement as saying that the education sector had been acknowledged as a catalyst for change which would "help create a new generation of Saudi citizens with a global perspective that is strongly rooted in the kingdom’s culture".

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported that $50 billion of deals had been signed at the Future Investment Initiative summit on Tuesday, according to officials, with most of these relating to investment in the oil and gas sector. The kingdom's national oil company, Saudi Aramco, said that it alone had signed deals worth $34 billion.

The deals have been signed despite a cloud hanging over this year's Future Investment Initiative following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

Scores of high profile politicians and financiers subsequently withdrew from the conference, which featured an appearance from Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Wednesday.

During his appearance, the crown prince referred to Khashoggi's death as "very painful, for all Saudis" according to Reuters. He also vowed that the kingdom would work with Turkey on an investigation.

Further reading:
• 25 mega deals worth $50bln signed in Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia will not penalize banks that boycotted conference - c.bank chief
• Saudi's PIF supports stocks to limit Khashoggi crash, sources say
• Russian fund CEO says Saudi economic drive important for world
• 'Davos in the Desert': The Saudi sovereign wealth fund's $100bln global reach goes well beyond oil
• 25 mega deals worth $50bln signed in Saudi Arabia

(Writing by Michael Fahy; Editing by Shane McGinley)

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