Turkish dental hospitals to invest $4 mln with new owner

Rhea Venture Capital Investment Trust, which has invested nearly $1 million in Dentistanbul, a private dental hospital, in the last five months, plans to invest $4 million in the dental business. The board chairman of Dentistanbul spoke at a press meeting held in Istanbul on Wednesday.

"We will increase our investments in the health sector," said Mehmet Yazıcı, adding that the health sector business volume would rise from 60 percent to 80 percent by next year. The venture purchased Dentistanbul from U.S. private equity fund Global Environment Fund, or GEF, last November.

Noting that Dentistanbul, the fist dental hospital in Turkey, founded in 2003, faced some financial losses in the last year, Yazıcı said the company has started to make profits after the takeover of the venture.

"We are planning to open two more hospitals in this year," said Gökhan Yüksel, general manager of Dentistanbul. Talking about the growth strategy of the firm, "Dentistanbul looks for further partnership with various dental hospitals in Turkey," Yüksel said. "We could take over the operations of some hospitals," said Yüksel adding that some portion of shares might be purchased as well.


/Hurriyet Daily News/