NMC in safer hands with new chairman Belhoul, says Shetty

Dubai - Founder ''will come out with a candid account of the true facts behind the turmoil when the time comes'

BR Shetty, the founder and former chairman of NMC Health, said on Saturday that the healthcare provider would be in safer and able hands under its new chairman Faisal Belhoul, a seasoned investor in health and education sectors.

Speaking to Khaleej Times from Bengaluru, when this scribe called him to offer condolences on the death of his elder brother, Shetty said he was delighted to hear about Belhoul's appointment as NMC chairman and immediately pledged his solidarity and support to him in overcoming the challenges the hospital operator currently faces.

"I have no doubt that the future of NMC Health, which I had founded decades ago, will be safer and brighter in the hands of such a successful and pragmatic entrepreneur like Faisal, who has an excellent track record of accomplishments." Shetty said he is confident that NMC Health, the UAE's pioneering private-sector healthcare initiative and a homegrown global brand, would be able to tide over the current crisis with Belhoul at its helm.

"I have also advised some of the senior staff members of NMC who had been in touch with me to stay put and extend their full support to the new chairman to ensure that NMC tide over the critical phase and retain its status as a regional healthcare icon," Shetty said.

"I have been keeping away from the UAE as I wanted to be near my bed-ridden elder brother, who was my guide and teacher. But some section of the media had been very harsh, alleging that I fled from the UAE as NMC Health, which I founded and nurtured, was facing a crisis. All what I can say now is that I will come out with a candid account of the true facts behind the turmoil when the time comes," said Shetty, sounding emotional.

Shetty, who is a minor shareholder of NMC Health owning a 5 per cent stake, said he stepped down from active management of the company in 2017 and since then had not been involved with its operations that were directly handled by its former chief executive officer Prasanth Manghat, who sacked by the NMC board as the turmoil at the debt-ridden company escalated.

Shetty's elder brother Bavaguthu Sachidananda Shetty, who passed away on Saturday morning at Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru, was 82. He was a veteran insurer and retired as a manager with Life Insurance Company of India.

NMC's new boss Belhoul, who is currently serving as the managing director of Ithmar Capital Partners that owns a 9 per cent stake in the healthcare provider, took over from Mark Tompkins, who had stepped down, days after the embattled firm disclosed that its debt position had piled up to $6.6 billion from the previously estimated $5 billion.
NMC Health, which is listed on London Stock Exchange, has been beset by allegations of financial irregularities ever since US short-seller Muddy Waters Research accused in December that the healthcare provider had amplified cash balances, overpaid for its assets and understated its debt.

NMC's share value has nosedived since, losing more than 70 per cent of its value over the past months. Its turmoil deepened amid disclosures of mammoth debt currently estimated to be around $6.6 billion, higher than the $5 billion revealed earlier this month and far higher than the $2.1 billion declared in its accounts.

- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com