Hospital merger
Consolidation in the private hospital sector is a tortuous process, as evidenced by the ACCC’s consideration of Liu Dianbo’s $120m purchase of Pulse Health.
Dianbo owns Healthe Care, the third-biggest private hospital supplier in Australia after Primary and Healthscope.
Dianbo is a Chinese billionaire who controls the Luye Medical Group.
Healthe has 17 hospitals around the country and Pulse 12, with five in NSW and four in Queensland, where Healthe has eight and four, respectively.
The ACCC has closely monitored the sector, making acquisitions difficult, and this one was first flagged back in October.
It was only listed on the ACCC website this week with a decision due on March 16.
PHG Price at posting:
45.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
