$150 million buyout of Mayo Clinic's ownership of Abu Dhabi health center is complete

Mar. 15—ROCHESTER — The $150 million buyout of Mayo Clinic's stake in its first hospital outside of the U.S. is complete, leaving the Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City under local Abu Dhabi control.

State-owned SEHA, under the umbrella of

PureHealth Holding,

filed documents on Jan. 29 announcing its planned purchase of Mayo Clinic's 25,000 shares, or 25% stake, in the Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City in the United Arab Emirates in an early buyout of a planned 20-year collaboration.

PureHealth announced in early March that the transition at the 741-bed hospital, which PureHealth valued at $600 million, was complete.

"This integration of SSMC reflects PureHealth's dedication to improving health care standards, positioning Abu Dhabi as a global health care hub," stated Chairman of the Board of Directors of PureHealth's Chairman Hamad Al Hammadi.

PureHealth also pointed out this deal strengthens Abu Dhabi's Economic Vision 2030 to provide complex health care for UAE residents and making the region a destination for medical tourism.

Abu Dhabi is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, the jewel of an oil-rich monarchy with fewer citizens than Rhode Island and $1.3 trillion in wealth.

SSMC officially launched in 2019

and

the much-hyped partnership started in 2020

with

Mayo Clinic's investment of $50 million in cash "and other intangibles"

to buy "a 25 percent equity position." Mayo Clinic's annual financial reports described the partnership as including "a hospital expertise agreement, a brand license agreement, and research contribution agreement."

Many Mayo Clinic doctors and executives served in leadership roles at SSMC including Dr. Naser Ammash as CEO and other positions such as chief administration officer, chief operating officer, chief medical officer, dean of education, medical director of research and senior nurse administrator. Ammash was in the top 20 highest-paid Mayo Clinic employees in 2022, earning $1.11 million.

The Abu Dhabi facility is organized under Mayo Clinic's three-shield model of clinical practice, education and research.

"Our goal is to bring the excellence in service and quality associated with Mayo Clinic to patients here, close to where they live, reducing the need for overseas medical travel," stated Ammash in a January interview, days before the buyout was announced.

Financial documents show that Mayo Clinic's "carrying value" of its investment in Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City was $87 million in 2020, $89 million in 2021 and $155 million in 2022.

Mayo Clinic did not respond to questions about why the decision was made to end the project or how the sale might affect staff working in Abu Dhabi.

Sharon Theimer, Mayo Clinic's communications manager for international media relations, sent a short statement when asked this week about the completion of the deal.

""Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) has acquired Mayo Clinic's interest in Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC). Moving forward, SSMC will be wholly owned and operated by SEHA. Mayo Clinic and SEHA remain committed to serving patients from the UAE, the surrounding region and abroad. We are not releasing further details at this time," she wrote.