Egyptian mogul Hend El-Sherbini’s IDH reverses acquisition of stake in Pakistani diagnostics firm

Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH), a renowned healthcare services provider led by Egyptian multimillionaire businesswoman Hend El-Sherbini, has reversed its decision to acquire a 50-percent stake in Islamabad Diagnostic Center (IDC), one of the largest integrated diagnostics providers in Pakistan.

The negotiations between IDH and IDC failed to materialize after 18 months of intense negotiations. The reasons for this unfavorable outcome were numerous, including lengthy delays in the regulatory review process, which added uncertainty and frustration to the proceedings.

The deal was hampered by unfavorable global economic conditions, which included economic insecurity and lower growth rates.

The repatriation of funds, which was a critical condition for the acquisition’s success, was one of the major impediments.

However, the parties involved, IDH and IDC, were unable to reach an agreement on the necessary measures and timeline for repatriating funds, resulting in the collapse of their negotiations.

The latest move comes more than a year after IDH, one of Egypt’s wealthiest businesswomen, signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the majority stake in IDC.

According to Hend El-Sherbini at the time, the transaction is consistent with IDH’s regional expansion strategy, which focuses on high-growth markets where the group’s platform is well-suited to deliver exceptional quality of care to a large and growing patient base.

IDH is a leading consumer healthcare group in the Middle East and Africa.

The group offers more than 1,400 international-standard diagnostic tests with a branch network of 483 labs across four countries, making it the largest diagnostics provider in Egypt.

Under the leadership of El-Sherbini, who presently controls a significant 26.1-percent stake in the group, IDH has grown into a major consumer healthcare group in the Middle East and Africa, with operations in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Nigeria.

IDH’s profits declined by 34 percent to EGP439 million ($22.67 million) in H1 2022, compared to EGP668 million ($34.5 million) in the previous year.

The decrease was due to the slowing of COVID-19-related business activities, the lifting of mandatory COVID-19 testing for international travelers, and a substantial reduction in the average price of COVID-19 tests.