The Competition Commission has approved the acquisition of German healthcare company Fresenius Medical Care’s 41 Fresenius Medical Care renal dialysis clinics in South Africa by Life Healthcare Group, South Africa’s second-largest private hospital group.
The acquisition was first announced in May 2023
In a statement issued yesterday, Life Healthcare announced the expansion of its renal dialysis presence, increasing from 33 Life Renal Dialysis units in South Africa to 74 units across six provinces. This expansion aims to establish a comprehensive renal dialysis network spanning the entire country.
The deal also includes five renal clinics in Namibia and one in Eswatini taking the total number of clinics acquired to 47. The deal is subject to a few outstanding conditions precedent being completed with a take-on date of 1 April 2024.
Adam Pyle, Life Healthcare’s CEO for Southern Africa, said,“ “Our strategy of diversifying from an acute-focused business to a more innovative and integrated healthcare organisation has led us to invest further in renal care.”
“Our current renal patients are already benefiting from our integrated renal care pathway programme, a co-ordinated end-to-end patient journey to actively deliver expert care, through a patient-centric and holistic approach. This is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of skilled healthcare professionals, enabled by a digital clinical management system,” said Pyle.
“By expanding our renal dialysis services through this acquisition, together with our years of renal care expertise, we’re placed in a strong position to ensure that many more chronic kidney disease patients who need life-enhancing quality care can now access our services in more locations,” said Noleen Phillipson, a senior manager of Life Renal Dialysis.
“It also means that existing and new patients of the acquired clinics added to our network will experience our patient-centric approach to care and benefit from our integrated renal care pathway programme.”
Life Healthcare said it had put clearly defined change management and training plans in place to ensure business continuity and was engaging with all stakeholders involved to ensure a smooth transition so that patients continued to receive the quality care they are accustomed to.
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