Billionaire Peter Lim—the controlling shareholder of Singapore’s Thomson Medical Group—is said to be in talks to invest in Spanish fertility firm IVI-RMA amid booming demand for reproductive medicine across the Asia Pacific region.
“He (Peter Lim) has expressed interest (to invest) in the company,” Jose Remohi, cofounder and co-president of IVI-RMA, told Forbes Asia in Singapore on Friday.
On Lim’s invitation, Remohi and his wife Ana Cobo—who are both fertility experts— visited Singapore last week. Remohi gave a talk on reproductive medicine to about 100 physicians at an event hosted by Thomson Medical. “We are friends with Peter Lim,” he said. “We came to visit him. When he’s in Valencia, we always go out and have dinner.” Lim owns Spanish football team Valencia.
While private equity firms are lining up bids for IVI-RMA, Remohi said a strategic partner like Lim would be an ideal investor for the Valencia-based company because he understands the healthcare business. Lim bought into Thomson Medical—a Singapore hospital specializing in women’s and children’s healthcare—a decade ago, before merging it and his interest in Malaysia’s TMC Life Sciences into his real estate firm Rowsley in 2017 to form Thomson Medical Group in a deal valued at S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion).
Lim, through a representative, declined to comment on his interest to invest in the Spanish fertility firm. Private equity firms including KKR, Permira, Bain Capital, CVC Capital Partners and PAI Partners are among the bidders for IVI-RMA, which could be worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), Reuters reported in January.
Remohi—the biggest shareholder in IVI-RMA with a 33% stake—said he and other shareholders are likely to sell their controlling interest in the company and retain a small stake. Morgan Stanley is handling the potential transaction, which is expected to be completed by July or August, subject to regulatory approvals, he said.
A leader in reproductive medicine, IVI-RMA operates 75 clinics and 28 laboratories across nine countries in Europe, Latin America and the U.S. Remohi and Antonio Pellicer—the company’s CEO and co-president—had in 1990 cofounded IVI, which then merged with RMA to form IVI-RMA in 2017.
With Asians increasingly getting married later, demand for fertility treatments across Asia Pacific is rising. The region’s market for reproductive medicine will likely exceed $20 billion by 2030, from $4.5 billion in 2020, according to Portland, Oregon-based consulting firm Allied Market Research.
Whether Lim succeeds in taking a stake in IVI-RMA, Remohi believes there’s a potential for the Spanish company to team up with Thomson Medical in Asia. “Asia is very attractive,” he said.
Thomson Medical Group CEO Wong Chiang Yin said the companies may explore future collaboration opportunities. “If and when they (IVI-RMA) decide to come to Asia, we can deepen our ties.” Wong said he is not privy on whether Lim plans to invest in IVI-RMA.
Besides his interest in Thomson Medical and Valencia, Lim, 68, owns a boutique luxury hotel in the heritage building of the Northern Stock Exchange in Manchester, about 300 kilometers north of London. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, Lim was ranked No. 15 when the list of Singapore’s 50 Richest was published in August.
After cashing out of palm oil giant Wilmar over a decade ago, Lim (a former stockbroker) has been investing in property, healthcare and sports. He recently ventured into education, partnering with top British boarding school Wellington Colleges to set up international schools across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in the next few years.
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