Healthcare Enterprise Group

The above post (7767) is the Alpha Trading Asia (ATA) entry from the HospiMedica website. For those who may not know, it is an International Exhibition on Hospital, Diagnostic, Pharmaceutical, Medical & Rehabilitation Equipment & Supplies that took place in Bangkok from 6th to 8th September 2005.

The ATA entry is typical of what an exhibitor would be expected to show on a website of this type. Exhibitors are limited in the detail they can give because of website restrictions ... look at the entry for Isotron; a multi national company at the forefront of industry, but limited in what they can say on the HospiMedica website by the ammount of space allowed for each exhibitor.

HCEG were represented at HospiMedica 2005 by Kusol Arronratsakul (ATA Thailand), Robin Kennedy (HCEG Malaysia) and Yuta Ito (HCEG Japan). They featured the Ebiox range of decontaminants on their stand and had various data sheets and brochures available.

Thailand43 has raised some questions in relation to this entry which I'll attempt to answer ...

The website restrictions prevent the entry for ATA from being any more detailed. This isn't important because HospiMedica is an exhibition, held this year at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center over two days. It isn't an advertising website and ATA's entry is similar to those of other exhibitors.

T43 asks, how actual sales have progressed since the announcement of HCEG's closer involvement with ATA and Malaysian distributor Link Portfolio. It is mportant to understand that HCEG have not purchased these companies, they have taken a controlling interest ... the price paid would have been more if they had taken them over.

GBP 200,000 may not sound a lot to establish a 51 per cent holding in the two SE Asian distributors but this is largely offset by the fact that the vendors of both companies are now executives of HCEG's Healthcare Sales & Services division, and paid a salary.

Robin Kennedy, formerly MD of Link Portfolio, is appointed Managing Director of the newly re-organised ATA and as such will also be paid an annual salary.

Taking control of ATA and Link Portfolio brings them "in house" ... they now operate on the same basis as HCEG's Tokyo office, who they will work closely with.

T43 says "HCEG are a foreign manufacturer of an apparently leading edge pharma product and not an acquisitive global agency for pharma products."

Pharma is the wrong term. HCEG Plc have no pharmaceutical business ... Ebiox is a decontamination and disinfectant range of products.

HCEG manufacture much of their product range in Thailand where they use the Isotron Gamma/Ethylene Oxide facility at Chonburi ... they also use an Isotron clean room at Kuala Ketil, over the border in Malaysia. Both facilities are CE and FDA approved which gives HCEG a distinct advantage over rivals because their products do not require quarantine when entering Europe and the USA.

Regarding HCEG being "acquisitive" ... that is what they exist to do. They are Healthcare Enterprise Group Plc. They buy up businesses and develop them ... in the last two years they have bought all or part of; the Safa group of companies, IPS Ltd., First Aid UK, Crest Medical, Ebiox Ltd, Optiscope Ltd, CICS Ltd, Fertilligent, MeDilator, Fertiloscopy, Alpha Trading Asia and Link Portfolio Sdn Bhd.

Like many "internet based" investors, T43 worries when companies don't have a website. He says ...

"Robin Kennedy was/is the md. of this company as I learnt from previous announcement postings on this site. Surely he should be working on a web site that says 'under construction' at least."

All HCEG/Ebiox literature has details of the various company websites ... there is absolutely no need to spend time and money duplicating this effort to set up an ATA website.

HCEG's commitment to Thailand and the rest of SE Asia can be seen by the number of visits senior management and directors make to the region ... CEO Gordon Wood has been there all week. While in Bankok he has held a series of meetings concearning Ebiox in the fight against Avian Flu. He has also met with key suppliers of both Distrimatch and Healthcare Sales & Services.

As T43 says, there are many professional and established medical distributors in SE Asia region ... the board and senior managers at HCEG are very "hands on" people and believe that owning their own distribution chain is the way forward.

This isn't to say that established third party distributors aren't also used ... Chung Fai in Beijing and the two Philippino companies; Philusa Corp. and Medical Centre Trading Co. being examples of this.