Mubadala acquires 80% stake in Global Medical Supply Chain and Al Ittihad Drug Store

Move is aimed at bolstering UAE's life sciences sector and drug security

Mubadala is focused on key sectors including AI, technology, financial services, life sciences and health care. Photo: Mubadala

Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm, has acquired an 80 per cent stake in Global Medical Supply Chain (GMSC) and Al Ittihad Drug Store (IDS) from GlobalOne Healthcare Holding, expanding its footprint in healthcare logistics and pharmaceutical distribution.

GlobalOne Healthcare Holding will retain a 20 per cent stake in the UAE-based companies, Mubadala said in a statement on Tuesday.

"By integrating GMSC and IDS into our portfolio, we are poised to create a vertically integrated life sciences sector in the UAE and enable its potential to encompass the entire value chain from logistics and distribution to specialised manufacturing," said Ismail Ali Abdulla, executive director of UAE clusters at Mubadala's UAE investments platform. "The expanding pharmaceutical market drives an increasing demand for specialised and efficient drug logistics solutions."

The deal is aligned with Mubadala's investment interests in the life-science sector and the acquisition spans the whole value chain, from specialised manufacturing to logistics and distribution.

Mubadala – which has $330 billion of assets under management, up from $200 million when it started out 20 years ago – is "zooming in" on key sectors that will be growing in the future including AI, technology, financial services, life sciences and health care, the company's chief executive and managing director Khaldoon Al Mubarak said at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit held in Abu Dhabi this month.

Founded in 2015, GMSC provides supply chain services for medical products, including demand planning, procurement, logistics, inventory management, warehousing and maintenance. GMSC serves more than 200 medical facilities, including hospitals and clinics across the UAE.

Established in 1987, IDS is a distributor of pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products in the UAE. Distributing more than 1,000 products from about 40 suppliers, IDS serves hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets within the UAE. It has a portfolio that spans several therapeutic categories including anti-infectives, asthma, diabetes and oncology.

In October, Mubadala's unit Kelix bio bought four of GlobalOne Healthcare Holding’s pharma assets in an effort to develop UAE life sciences. As part of the deal, Kelix bio acquired GHH’s Bioventure, Bioventure Healthcare, Gulf Inject and Wellpharma.

GlobalOne Healthcare Holding is a division of the UAE-based investment company Yas Holding that has interests in sectors including health care, aviation, technology and real estate.

"These concerted efforts underline Mubadala's commitment to strengthening the UAE's healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors as part of broader national ambitions for drug security and economic diversification," Low Ping, group chief executive of Yas Holding, said on Tuesday.