SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed New Silkroutes Group (NSG) said on Thursday (Sept 15) that it will acquire a 51 per cent stake in Healthsciences International (HSI), a Singapore-based healthcare company.

This acquisition, which will be completed by November, will enable the group to offer services ranging from primary and preventive care to systems integration and enterprise resource planning for hospitals and clinics.

HSI, which was established in 1994, has a healthcare practice group with expertise to design, develop and run hospitals. It also offers primary and preventive healthcare through its three local clinics. NSG said, that through HSI, it will offer solutions to healthcare providers in other Asian markets including Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

The company will pay S$2.17 million in cash for its stake in HSI which has a market value of S$8.5 million, and a book vaue of S$2.1 million.

The acquisition is an interested party transaction as three of HSI's eight owners are board directors of NSG. The compony said the transaction does not require the approval of its shareholders as the S$2.17 million is less than 5 per cent of the group's latest net tangible assets of about S$46.55 million.

"We will leverage on the healthcare expertise of some of our senior management executives to drive NSG's healthcare business. HSI will also complement our healthcare investment team in New Silkroutes Capital," said Mr Ho Sheng, lead independent and non-executive director of NSG.

New Silkroutes Capital, wholly owned by NSG, offers investment management and strategic advisory services to institutions, enterprises and individuals.

NSG exited the SGX watchlist in November 2014 and is developing into an investment holding company with businesses in investment management, energy and resources, healthcare, and infocomm technology with a focus on security and governance. The group is largely involved in oil and gas trading.