SINGAPORE - Novena Global Lifecare Group is expanding beyond the medical aesthetic business with its acquisition of four eyecare clinics in Singapore and a majority stake in Taiwan's Hexin Group, the third largest healthcare screening provider in Taipei.
Singapore-based Novena Global said the multi-million dollar Taiwan deal will allow it to manage and oversee healthcare screening services in major hospitals in Taipei, namely Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taoyuan General Hospital, China Medical University Hospital and Taipei Beitou Hospital.
Hexin Group was founded in 2007 and works with hospitals in Taiwan to provide health screening for over 200,000 corporate employees.
Novena Global said it believes the market has huge growth potential since healthcare screening for employees is mandated by law in Taiwan.
It added the Taiwan acquisition is part of plans to expand beyond the medical aesthetics sector where it owns a network of more than 100 clinics in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, India and Malaysia. In Singapore, the group has 15 aesthetics clinics with 150,000 patients.
The four eyecare clinics it has newly acquired are owned and helmed by ophthalmologists Dr Gerard Chuah and Dr Chuah Chin Tek.
Dr Gerard Chuah, an established private eye surgeon, operates two clinics, Total EyeCare Center at Orchid Hotel and a branch in Jurong East, with a client base of over 25,000 patients.
Dr Chuah Chin Tek, a surgeon and physician with background in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery, heads the Specialist Eye & Eyelids Clinic at Novena and The Eye & Aesthetics Clinic in Suntec City Founded six years ago by former investment bankers and cousins Terence and Nelson Loh, Novena Global said in July it intends to raise US$150 million through a listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange as part of plans to expand in North Asia.
Other areas of expansion it identfied on Wednesday here and across the region include anti-aging treatments, stem cell treatments, skin and body care products, DNA testing and post-natal care.
