Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH) — a consumer healthcare company with operations in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Nigeria — welcomed a visit from Pakistan's Ambassador to Egypt Sajid Bilal to the Company's headquarters. The visit saw the two parties discuss enhancing cooperation between IDH and Pakistani companies and investment opportunities in Pakistan's healthcare sector. He was welcomed by senior officials of IDH led by Group CEO Dr. Hend Al-Sherbini. The visit comes as part of Pakistan's wider strategy to consolidate its relations with Egypt, especially in infrastructure projects, health, training, and joint investments. During the meeting, IDH's officials discussed specific investment opportunities within the fast-growing Pakistani healthcare sector, with Bilal stressing the strategic importance of attracting leading Egyptian healthcare companies like IDH to the sector. The meeting comes just weeks after IDH signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 50% shareholding in Base Consultancy FZ LLC — the holding company of Islamabad Diagnostic Centre (IDC) — from the Evercare Group for a total consideration of $72.35m. The transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2022, following the satisfaction of a number of key conditions precedent, will see IDH acquire a stake in one of Pakistan's leading diagnostic providers and partner with the founder, Mr. Rizwan Uppal. Bilal pointed out that IDC enjoys a strong reputation among both patients and regulatory authorities in Pakistan and is widely considered as one of the leading diagnostics providers in the country. He also mentioned that IDH's decision to invest in Pakistan is a testament to the attractiveness of the country's investment policies and to the company's trust in the government's future vision. "We are very pleased to welcome H.E Ambassador Sajid Bilal to discuss future opportunities of cooperation in Pakistan. The country's healthcare market represents an appealing investment opportunity for IDH due to its robust fundamentals and its relative under-penetration. The Pakistani diagnostics industry shares many similar characteristics as our current markets of operation, making it an ideal location for our platform to deliver exceptional quality of care to a broad and growing patient-base. We expect to close our first transaction in the market during the first half of 2022, and I look forward to visiting Pakistan in the near future," said Dr. Al-Sherbini.
