NASSAU, Bahamas — Doctors Hospital’s president on Sunday said a $13.5m Canadian investment will accelerate the launch of a Grand Bahama care facility “comparable to our New Providence” assets by 2022, The Tribune reported on Monday, March 1, in an article written by Business Editor Neil Hartnell.
Dr Charles Diggiss told Tribune Business that the equity injection by Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings will enable the BISX-listed healthcare provider to quicken an expansion pace that will take it “beyond the borders of The Bahamas” and into the wider Caribbean by 2025.
Fairfax Financial, whose main interests lie in insurance and reinsurance investments stretching around the world, is acquiring two million Doctors Hospital shares at $6.75 per share — a price just below Friday’s close of $6.85, but likely equal to the prevailing market price when the deal was agreed.
Doctors Hospital, in a statement on Sunday, said the dal — which is taking the form of a private placement — will see Fairfax Financial acquire a 16.7 percent stake in the healthcare provider, but the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) listed investment house will not be seeking a Board seat in return.
Dr Diggiss, who voiced optimism that the necessary government and Securities Commission approvals could be in place by month’s end, told The that the Fairfax Financial investment will enable Doctors Hospital to quicken the pace at which its vision for Bahamian healthcare’s future is rolled-out.
He explained that the additional equity capital will help foster its plans to partner with existing medical providers on major Family Islands, providing them with access to services such as imaging, diagnostics, laboratory and pharmacy.
And Fairfax Financial’s involvement will also speed up Doctors Hospital’s plans to deliver “virtual, remote and portable services” throughout The Bahamas, bringing healthcare to persons where they reside and increasing access to medical treatments.
Dr Diggiss, who has become Doctors Hospital’s largest shareholder after progressively acquiring holdings held by Barry Rassin and his family, told shareholders to brace for a stock price that will be “propelled north” by the company’s sudden access to a substantial, low-cost financing source.
Describing the move as “a big deal for The Bahamas”, he added that development of a private “in-patient” care facility in Grand Bahama was one of “two spaces” where Doctors Hospital was seeking to put the Fairfax Financial investment to use. See complete Tribune story at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/mar/01/doctors-gb-plans-gain-135m-boost/
