想淘金中国民营医疗并非易事

Private equity firms engaged in an unusual bidding battle this year: slugging it out over an upmarket chain of private hospitals in China.

私人股本公司今年投入到了一场不寻常的竞标战中：它们要在中国民营医院的高端产业链上一决胜负。

TPG and a consortium that included Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, emerged the victor in the fight for US-listed Chindex International after sweetening its bid and shelling out $461m. Chinese media and people close to the deal named Carlyle as the rival bidder, although it declined to comment.

在对美国上市公司美中互利(Chindex International)的竞购中，德克萨斯太平洋集团(TPG)和一家包括上海复星医药(Fosun Pharmaceutical)在内的财团提高报价并支付4.61亿美元之后，成为最终赢家。熟悉此次交易的中国媒体和知情人称凯雷(Carlyle)也参与了竞购，不过凯雷拒绝置评。

Chindex is the top of the pyramid of hundreds of potential private hospital deals, as investors chase a Chinese gold rush.

随着众多投资者前来淘金，中国可能会有数百家民营医院成为并购对象，美中互利成为首当其冲的一家。

Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun Group, parent of Fosun Pharma, said recently that the group might invest in as many as 500 hospitals in China – although people close to the company say this was more an expression of enthusiasm than an exact number.

复星医药的母公司、复星集团(Fosun Group)的董事长郭广昌最近表示，该集团要在中国投资500家医院，尽管接近该公司的人士表示，这更像一种热情洋溢的表达方式，跟确切数字无关。

Either way, investment is set to pour into the sector, continuing a trend begun when Beijing lifted restrictions on foreign investment in private hospitals in 2012.

无论是哪种情况，投资已准备涌入该领域，延续了2012年以来的趋势。2012年，中国政府解除了外商投资民营医院的限制。

As demand for medical care has risen in line with prosperity, demand for investment opportunities has spilled over into other appendages of a wealthier lifestyle: dentists, rehabilitation clinics and cosmetic surgery centres.

人们对医疗服务的需求随着与经济繁荣同步增长的同时，对投资机会的需求也有所增加，且已蔓延到高品质生活方式的其他附属领域：牙医、康复诊所和整容手术中心。

While many investors are coveting hospitals that are already private, dozens of other local and foreign private equity investors are looking into the harder task of privatising public hospitals or building new ones.

虽然许多投资者觊觎的是已经民营化的医院，但还有数十家中外私人股本投资机构将目光投向了更艰苦的任务：公立医院私有化及兴建新医院。

The total value of healthcare deals in China exceeded $10bn last year, nearly five times the level of 2006, according to statistics from Dealogic.

根据Dealogic的统计数据，去年中国医疗业并购总额超过100亿美元，近乎2006年水平的5倍，

Sweeping reforms of the sector are under way, including doubling the private hospital share in treating Chinese patients to 20 per cent by 2015.

该行业正进行大刀阔斧的改革，包括至2015年，实现民营医院的床位数占比和服务量占比翻一番，达到总量的20%。

Spending on healthcare is about 5 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with about 9 per cent in Japan and nearly 18 per cent in the US, according to a report from McKinsey. “Perhaps an even bigger difference is that in China, services account for only 30 per cent of spending versus 70 per cent in Japan and the US,” says Gordon Orr of McKinsey Asia.

根据麦肯锡(McKinsey)的报告，中国的医疗支出约为国内生产总值(GDP)的5%，相比之下日本的支出约为9%，美国的支出近于18%。麦肯锡亚洲的欧高敦(Gordon Orr)说：“或许更大的区别是，在中国，医疗服务仅占医疗支出的30%，而在日本和美国要占到70%。”

According to a survey by Bain & Co, healthcare was identified by private equity funds as the most attractive sector for China investment this year.

根据贝恩咨询公司(Bain & Co)的一项调查，私人股本基金已将医疗业确定为本年度在中国投资的最具吸引力行业。

“We are seeing a lot of interest in medtech and private hospitals but the challenge in China is that there are few large deal opportunities,” says Vinit Bhatia, head of China private equity for Bain & Co.

贝恩咨询公司中国私人股本部门的负责人威尼•巴蒂亚(Vinit Bhatia)说：“我们看到许多机构对医疗科技和民营医院感兴趣，但中国的挑战在于大的交易机会并不多。”

Several investors say it may prove hard to identify profitable deals in a sector where corruption is rife among doctors and administrators, and hospital finances are opaque.

一些投资者表示，在一个医生和管理人员普遍涉嫌腐败，且医院财务状况不透明的行业，想识别有利可图的交易恐怕不容易。

Perhaps the biggest problem is that private hospitals must stick to charges held down by the government or risk losing their eligibility for public reimbursement.

或许最大的问题在于，民营医院必须遵守政府压低的收费标准，否则将可能被撤销医保定点资格。

Improving management and achieving economies of scale in drug procurement may help profitability; but attracting high-quality doctors, retraining staff in a more service-orientated culture and matching doctor salaries inflated by bribes may all prove costly, health analysts say.

健康产业分析师指出，提高管理水平、实现药品采购的规模经济或许有助盈利，但吸引高素质医生、以服务型文化对员工进行再培训，还有将医生工资提高到被贿赂抬高的水平，这些可能都要投入大量资金。

Alexander Ng of McKinsey says the pay-off could take longer than usual for a private equity fund. “If you have an investment horizon of 20, 30, 40 years, China is the right place but if you have a seven-year timeframe then, unless you buy cheap, it may not be the place to be as the valuations are going up because of more bullish expectations.”

麦肯锡的Alexander Ng表示，私人股本基金想获得成功要比平常花费更长时间。“如果你的投资期限为20年、30年、40年，投资中国是选对了地方，但如果你的时间表为7年，那么除非你买便宜货，否则中国不是合适的地方，因为看涨预期较强，估值会往上走。”