Following a decision by the Slovak Anti-monopoly Office, Penta investment group acquired a 100% share in Estate Consult, the owner of the Svet zdravia regional network of hospitals.
The network includes ten hospitals in Humenné, Svidník, Spišská Nová Ves, Rožňava, Trebišov, Michalovce, Partizánske, and Vranov nad Topľou, with additional facilities in Medzilaborce and Stropkov. By the end of this year, Penta intends to invest EUR 3 million into the project to modernise the hospitals and improve the quality of their service.
“Our goal is to build a network of regional hospitals providing affordable and high quality healthcare. We will continue with our improvement plan which mostly concerns financial stabilisation of the hospitals and prevention of further debts. The hospitals will also benefit from new medical equipment and their buildings will be refurbished, which is something many of them need urgently,” said Penta’s partner Eduard Maták.
Within the current year, the new owner’s investment will be used to purchase a linear accelerator, as well as new ultrasound and X-ray machines. Heating efficiency, elevators and kitchens in individual hospitals will also be improved substantially.
The Svet zdravia Group posted an operating loss of EUR 2.3 million last year, while the first six months of the current year resulted in EBITDA of EUR 0.4 million. The total liabilities of the entire network as of June 30th were EUR 17.3 million. The total revenue for the first six months was EUR 44.7 million. The hospitals, whose catchment area represents 631,000 inhabitants, have a total of 4,400 employees.