KKR-backed firm buys fertility business from Gulf Capital

A firm backed by global investment giant KKR has bought a stake in one of the Gulf’s most reputable fertility clinics.

IVI RMA Global, the world’s biggest provider of infertility treatments, which was bought by KKR three years ago, is re-acquiring ART Fertility Clinics’ Middle East operations from Abu Dhabi-based Gulf Capital, which had acquired the business for $100 million from IVI RMA Global in a carve-out of its Middle Eastern clinics five years ago.

Financial details were not disclosed, but Gulf Capital said the deal was one of its most successful exits to date, Bloomberg reports.

The sale comes amid rising demand for fertility services in the region, as legal systems adapt to changing demographics and social norms.

In the UAE, IVF laws were recently updated to allow unmarried non-Muslim couples to use IVF and to store embryos. Single women are also now allowed to freeze their eggs for future use.

The sale covers four clinics in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, while Gulf Capital will continue to own operations in India.