ARQ Capital backs Philippines dialysis business

Medline franchises a chain of 17 dialysis treatment clinics that is said to be growing at a rate of 1-2 locations a month and expected to add another 20 branches in the next 12 months. The company focuses on affordability and underserved remote parts of the country. It estimates the Philippines hemodialysis market is worth $300 million.

ARQ was founded in 2014 by Edmund Solilapsi, formerly a Philippines investment consultant for Tael Partners, and Abigail Tan, previously an infrastructure investor at Partners Group. The firm positions itself as a specialist in customizing financial products that are adapted to the unique economic, cultural, and regulatory requirements of the Philippines.  

Investment activity spans equity, debt, and mezzanine strategies targeting SMEs that are considered operationally and financially successful or seen as having the potential to become so. Focus sectors are meant to both support and leverage domestic macro growth, including healthcare, food and agriculture, consumer, social infrastructure, and financial services.

Private equity has achieved only scant traction in the Philippines SME sector, which is estimated to include some 10,000 investable companies. This is attributed to a range of cultural and regulatory hurdles and competition from family-connected corporations and conglomerates. Other locally headquartered PE firms targeting this space include Sierra Madre, Argosy Partners, and Navegar.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• Philippines
• SME
• Growth capital