State funding gaps have turned the sector into a prime market for foreign capital
[MANILA] When Singapore-backed private equity firm ABC Impact finalised its subscription last September for a 16 per cent minority stake in Ayala Healthcare (AC Health), a major Philippine integrated healthcare group owned by conglomerate Ayala Corp, the deal was more than a routine injection of expansion capital.
Across the Philippines, global investors and domestic conglomerates are racing to scale healthcare platforms in a historically fragmented market. They are betting on rising incomes and gaps in public provision to drive demand for private healthcare.
But private capital alone cannot resolve the country’s healthcare gap. Public-private alignment will be vital for the healthcare industry to achieve true scale and efficiency, said Francis Del Val, a former managing director at Fortman Cline Capital Markets.