By Preetika Parashuraman and Yantoultra Ngui
May 20 (Reuters) – London-based Global Healthcare Opportunities (GHO) and Singapore’s CBC Group on Wednesday said they would merge, creating what they called the world’s largest healthcare-focused investment manager with more than $21 billion in assets.
The deal brings together two specialist healthcare investors as financial firms globally seek greater scale and a wider reach in private markets.
It also comes as ageing populations, rising medical costs and faster use of technology are drawing more capital into drug development, medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare infrastructure and health technology.
The combined company will have more than 200 investment and operating professionals in 13 offices across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the firms said in a statement.
Those regions account for about 90% of global healthcare research and development spending, they added.
The Financial Times first reported about the planned merger on Wednesday.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, according to their statement. GHO and CBC will operate separately until the deal is completed.
CBC founder and CEO Fu Wei and GHO co-founder and managing partner Mike Mortimer will become co-chief executives of the combined firm, the statement said. GHO co-founder and Vice Chair Lady Mireille Gillings and Fu will co-chair the board.
GHO said the deal would give its North American and European portfolio companies stronger access to Asia-Pacific, while CBC said its Asian healthcare companies would gain from wider global market insight and support.
“In particular, AI is a fast-evolving force in healthcare and life sciences and so AI applications in these fields will continue to be a focus moving forward,” said Gillings.
GHO has $10.5 billion in assets under management, while CBC has $10.8 billion, according to the statement.
Existing funds and portfolio companies will remain under their current investment teams, with no changes to mandates, governance or ownership, they added.
($1 = 0.8622 euros)
(Reporting by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Thomas Derpinghaus)
