Thailand’s SAFE Fertility Center receives an investment from a Morgan Stanley managed fund

Tuesday 30 July 2019 16:15
SAFE Fertility Centre Co., Ltd (the "Company" or "SAFE") today announced that North Haven Thai Private Equity L.P., a fund managed by Morgan Stanley (the "Thai Fund"), has invested an undisclosed amount in the Company for a minority stake.

Founded in 2007 by Dr. Wiwat Quangkananurug and his wife, Mrs. Parinyarat Quangkananurug, SAFE is Thailand's 2nd largest fertility clinic in Thailand offering Assisted Reproductive Technology ("ART") services such as In-Vitro Fertilization ("IVF") and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI") procedures. The Company currently operates four clinics across three provinces in Thailand, and administers approximately 1,800 treatment cycles annually, successfully assisting over 4,000 couples since inception. The Company also operates a wholly-owned subsidiary offering comprehensive and complementary laboratory capabilities including egg freezing, storage, and pre-implantation genetic screening services.

The demand for assisted reproduction services is expected to accelerate as the prevalence of infertility spreads across the globe due to drivers such as rising age of first birth, obesity rates, and stress levels, coupled with other demographic trends such as the rise in healthcare spending and supportive governmental policies promoting childbirth. Thailand's reputation as a medical tourism destination offering world-class quality services and facilities has set the country up well to capture this wave of growth. SAFE currently treats patients from over 15 countries and expects its international clientele to grow, especially from the neighboring countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

The Company will be opening its fifth branch later this year in Chonburi province and plans to work closely together with Morgan Stanley's Thai Fund team to implement several growth initiatives as well as potential expansion plans to Thailand's neighboring countries.