RMB Ventures and Bopa Moruo buy majority stake in Icon Oncology

FirstRand Bank subsidiary RMB Ventures and black-owned Bopa Moruo Private Equity have bought a majority stake in cancer treatment network Icon Oncology Holdings.

The value the deal wasn’t disclosed but was classed as a large merger by the Competition Tribunal, which approved it without conditions last month.

Icon operates 26 radiotherapy facilities with 30 linear accelerators across SA, and has contracted a network of oncologists in private practice that provide care to about 30,000 cancer patients a year. While most of the patients receiving Icon treatment are funded by medical schemes, it also has contracts to provide care to state patients in Kimberley, George and Eastern Cape.

Icon acting CEO Anthony Pedersen said the deal would bring new skills to the company and advance its transformation goals. He declined to specify the details of the new shareholding, or the size of the deal, citing confidentiality. A small portion of the equity has been allocated to the senior leadership of Icon, he said.

“Like many private equity investors, they want to buy robust businesses with a focus on the management teams leading them,” he said.

Icon’s managed care unit has developed clinical protocols, formularies and funding models that are used by more than half the medical scheme market. “We have done studies to demonstrate these protocols provide superior outcomes, and costs are reduced by 27% (compared with treatment provided without Icon’s approach). Our objective is to build models and infrastructure to enable more people to get quality care at affordable prices,” said Pedersen.

RMB Ventures senior transactor Sherwin Jagarnath said: “This partnership underscores our commitment to empowering and partnering with leading businesses and to further support innovative healthcare solutions.”

Bopa Moruo co-managing partner Nthime Khoele said the company was focused on “transformational capital that not only generates returns but also has a positive societal impact”.

kahnt@businesslive.co.za