Target Screening & Origination
A shortlist built against your investment mandate, not a list of everything currently for sale in the sector.
Buy-Side M&A
Buying a healthcare business in the UAE: proceed, renegotiate, or walk away, decided by the diligence.
A healthcare acquisition in the UAE turns on details a generalist buy-side advisor rarely checks: a licence carrying conditions the seller has not flagged, a change-of-control approval that still needs to be filed, one payer behind half of revenue, or a claims denial rate running well above the market benchmark. We build diligence around exactly these points, and the recommendation that comes out the other end is ours to make plainly: proceed, renegotiate the terms, or walk away.
Who engages this
Private equity funds, family offices, regional strategics, and international operators entering the UAE and wider GCC through acquisition of clinics, hospital groups, pharma, and healthcare services businesses. Many are already deep in a process when they call us, holding an SPA draft and a data room from the sell side and needing an independent read before they sign.
The work
What this practice takes on.
Commercial Due Diligence
Payer mix, referral patterns, and competitive position tested against what the business claims, not what the deck shows.
Regulatory & Licence Diligence
DHA, DOH, and MOHAP change-of-control conditions read line by line before you commit, not discovered after signing.
Financial Diligence & Quality of Earnings
Normalised EBITDA, working capital, and the adjustments a seller's banker hopes you won't ask about.
Valuation & Offer Strategy
A defensible number and a structure to offer it in, built to survive your investment committee and the seller's counter.
SPA Negotiation & Structuring
Price, warranties, indemnities, and completion mechanics negotiated by a principal who has sat on both sides of the table.
UAE Merger-Control Filing Assessment
The UAE merger-control regime tightened in 2026 and now catches healthcare deals it used to miss; we tell you early whether a filing is required and build the timeline around it.
Post-Close 100-Day Plan
The integration priorities that protect the value you underwrote, sequenced before day one.
On a mandate
A private equity fund was evaluating a diagnostics network of eight labs across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Our regulatory diligence found two DOH licences tied personally to a physician the seller planned to release at close, and our commercial work found one insurer generating 41% of revenue at a claims denial rate 310 basis points above the segment benchmark. We flagged both to the investment committee; the price was renegotiated down 9%, and licence transfer became a condition precedent.
Questions
What clients ask first.
Will you tell us to walk away from a deal, or just find ways to justify it?
We will tell you to walk away, and it happens on a meaningful share of our mandates. Our fee structure includes a success component, but that is precisely why the diligence has to be independent: a deal that unravels eighteen months after close costs us the next mandate, not just you the purchase price.
How long does buy-side due diligence take?
Four to eight weeks for the commercial, regulatory, and financial workstreams, depending on the number of facilities, the state of the seller's data room, and whether a licence or payer issue needs a second pass. A single-clinic acquisition with clean records can clear diligence in four weeks; a multi-facility group with scattered records runs closer to eight.
Do you cover acquisitions outside the UAE?
Yes. We advise on healthcare and pharma acquisitions across the wider GCC, including Saudi Arabia, where SFDA licensing and ownership rules add a layer most first-time buyers underestimate. The core diligence discipline stays the same; the regulatory detail changes by jurisdiction.
How are your fees structured on a buy-side mandate?
A retainer covers the diligence phase, with a success component agreed at the mandate; the exact structure depends on scope. That structure gives us a stake in the deal closing, which is exactly why the recommendation to walk away has to stay on the table.
If you are evaluating a healthcare acquisition in the UAE or wider GCC, start with a conversation with a principal, before you sign the letter of intent.