TikTok owner ByteDance buys China’s biggest private women and children’s hospital chain in major healthcare investment
- ByteDance in June acquired Beijing-based Amcare, which runs eight hospitals across four Chinese cities, targeting expats and high-income locals
- The TikTok owner’s healthcare arm currently runs an online medical consultation app, competing against similar offerings from Baidu, JD Health and others
ByteDance, operator of short video app TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin, has acquired China’s largest private hospital chain specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology, in one of the unicorn’s largest healthcare investments.
Beijing Amcare Medical Management Co, the corporate vehicle of Amcare clinics and hospitals, is now wholly-owned by two ByteDance affiliates, Xiaohe Health (Hong Kong) Ltd and Xiaohe Health Technology (Beijing) Co, according to changes made in company records in June, tracked by corporate information site Qichacha.
The takeover took place after Xiaohe Health Technology, the healthcare investment subsidiary of ByteDance, bought a 17 per cent stake in Amcare in September 2021, which later increased to 30 per cent, according to Qichacha.
The State Administration for Market Regulation, China’s antitrust authority, gave its unconditional approval to the deal in mid-June, according to a notice on the regulator’s website.
None of the parties involved has disclosed the value of the deal. A representative from Xiaohe confirmed the acquisition on Friday, without offering further details.
Amcare did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ByteDance’s purchase has allowed Amcare’s shareholders to cash out after the hospital chain stopped going public on ChiNext, a Nasdaq-style subsidiary of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, citing “strategic consideration” in its filing to China’s securities regulator.
