HENA Holdings has secured a USD 60 million financing facility to push through its take-private transaction of a female-led healthcare provider in Africa and the Middle East. The facility from Riyada Managers will bankroll the company’s purchase of the target. Riyada Managers, an investment firm focused on Egypt and North Africa, commonly known as RMBV, has approved the loan in favour of HENA.
HENA Holdings, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, is co-owned by Dr Hend El Sherbini and her mother, Dr Moamena Abdul Wahab Kamel. El Sherbini has served as the CEO of Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH) since 2012. HENA secured the facility to finance its acquisition of IDH, in which it already owned 49.62% of the total shares issued. The mandatory GBP 0.50 final cash offer for the remaining shares was issued on 23 June, and the transaction closed on 12 August, valuing the target at USD 290.7 million.
IDH began as a single laboratory in Egypt in 1979. It has since expanded its medical diagnostics business to Nigeria and Sudan, as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The company underwent an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 2015. Its shares were also briefly listed on the Egyptian Exchange between 2021 and 2024. The financing was structured as a convertible loan facility, which could convert into equity at a later stage.
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Riyada Managers received legal advice from the Egyptian firm Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy. The team was headed by founding partner and corporate practice head Omar Bassiouny, assisted by senior associates Omar Al Fadaly and Omar El Shabassy, and Nourhan Sayed at the associate level. HENA Holdings was advised by the international law firm Baker McKenzie on the credit facility. London corporate partner James Thompson led the work for HENA, and he also led the wider IDH acquisition with assistance from partners Hani Nassef and Ben Wilkinson, as well as Ben Saraci, Avni Devgan, and Natasha Hassard at the associate level, alongside Tom Quincey and Lamyaa Gadelhak.
While the USD 290.7 million valuation reflects the company’s physical footprint and established history across several markets, taking a diagnostics firm private often shifts the strategic focus away from the volatility of public equity markets. For a regional player operating in multiple African nations, this move could provide the stability needed to pursue long-term infrastructure investments or expansion plans that might not align with the immediate short-term growth targets required by public shareholders.