Topchoice Medical to work with Zhejiang investment advisory
Shanghai. August 2. INTERFAX-CHINA - Topchoice Medical Investment Co. Ltd. (Topchoice Medical) announced on July 31 that it has signed a letter of intent to collaborate with Zhejiang Zheshang Industrial Investment Fund (Zhejiang Zheshang Investment).
Under the agreement, Zheshang Zheshang Investment will provide financial support for Topchoice Medical's acquisitions of medical service assets.
Furthermore, the fund will advise Topchoice Medical on its development strategy, helping the company to improve its management structure and optimize its debt-assets ratio.
Topchoice Medical is mainly engaged in the provision of dental services in China, and it has eight specialist dental hospitals with over 1,000 medical professionals. The company's net profits increased 53.72 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2010.
"The current public hospital reform might bring Topchoice Medical opportunities for acquisitions," a Beijing-based pharmaceutical analyst who wished to remain anonymous told Interfax on August 2. The reform in part involves the easing of restrictions on private investment in the medical services sector.
In its 2009 annual report, Topchoice Medical said that it would focus investment this year on the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Pearl River Delta in South China and Bohai Sea Ring Area in North China.
Zheshang Industrial Investment Fund was set up in July 2010 by Bank of China Group Investment Ltd. and Zhejiang Provincial Railway Investment Group Co. Ltd. It initially had RMB 5 billion ($738.55 million) under management.
- KZ