UAE’s Mubadala Acquires Majority Stakes in Global Medical Supply Chain, Al Ittihad Drug

The acquisition enhances Mubadala's footprint in the healthcare logistics and pharmaceutical distribution sectors. WAM
The acquisition enhances Mubadala's footprint in the healthcare logistics and pharmaceutical distribution sectors. WAM
TT

UAE’s Mubadala Acquires Majority Stakes in Global Medical Supply Chain, Al Ittihad Drug

The acquisition enhances Mubadala's footprint in the healthcare logistics and pharmaceutical distribution sectors. WAM
The acquisition enhances Mubadala's footprint in the healthcare logistics and pharmaceutical distribution sectors. WAM

Mubadala Investment Company has acquired an 80% stake in Global Medical Supply Chain (GMSC) and Al Ittihad Drug Store (IDS) from GlobalOne Healthcare Holding (GHH), with GHH retaining a 20% stake, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Tuesday.

This strategic acquisition enhances Mubadala's footprint in the healthcare logistics and pharmaceutical distribution sectors, aligning with the UAE's vision to establish a robust life sciences infrastructure, WAM said.

Founded in 2015, GMSC provides comprehensive end-to-end supply chain services for medical products, including demand planning, procurement, logistics, inventory management, warehousing, and maintenance.

GMSC serves over 200 medical facilities, including hospitals and clinics across the UAE. With a dedicated team of medical supply chain specialists, GMSC sources a broad array of products from almost 400 suppliers, ensuring a reliable supply chain for all medical needs.

IDS, established in 1987, stands as one of the leading distributors of pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare products in the UAE. Distributing over 1,000 products from over 40 leading suppliers, IDS services every hospital, and all, or at least most pharmacies and supermarkets within the UAE. It boasts a vast portfolio that spans multiple therapeutic categories including anti-infectives, asthma, diabetes, and oncology.

"The expanding pharmaceutical market drives an increasing demand for specialized and efficient drug logistics solutions. By integrating GMSC and IDS into our portfolio, we are poised to create a vertically integrated life sciences sector in the UAE and enable its potential to encompass the entire value chain from logistics and distribution to specialized manufacturing,” said Executive Director of UAE Clusters at Mubadala's UAE Investments Platform Ismail Ali Abdulla.

As for Low Ping, Group CEO Yas Holding, she said that the transaction “continues Mubadala's strategic growth, following another significant acquisition by its new speciality pharmaceutical business, KELIX bio, which recently acquired a 100% stake in four pharma assets from GlobalOne Healthcare Holding's, the healthcare division of Yas Holding.”

“These concerted efforts underline Mubadala's commitment to strengthening the UAE's healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors as part of broader national ambitions for drug security and economic diversification."

GlobalOne Healthcare Holding LLC serves as the dedicated Healthcare Division of Yas Holding LLC, focusing on enhancing healthcare outcomes by investing in innovative solutions across various healthcare verticals.



GASTAT: Saudi Women's Participation in Labor Force Reaches 36.2%

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) logo
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) logo
TT

GASTAT: Saudi Women's Participation in Labor Force Reaches 36.2%

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) logo
The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) logo

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said Tuesday that the unemployment rate among Saudis in Q3 of 2024 was 7.8%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points over Q2 of this same year, and a year-on-year decrease of 1 percentage point from Q3 2023.

The Labor Market Bulletin for the third quarter of 2024 also shows that the Saudi and non-Saudi labor force stood at 66.6%, a 0.4 percentage point increase over Q2 of 2024.
Among Saudis, the labor force grew by 0.7 percentage points, to reach 51.5%, marking a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points. The employment-to-population ratio among Saudis went up by 0.2 percentage points, reaching 47.4%, or an annual growth of 1.1 percentage points.
The bulletin also highlighted the growth of Saudi women's participation in the labor force, which increased by 0.8 percentage points, to 36.2%, in the mentioned period.
The employment-to-population ratio among Saudi women rose by 0.5 percentage points, reaching 31.3%. Among Saudi women aged 15–24, participation in the labor force increased by 1 percentage point, to 18%, while the employment-to-population ratio among this age group rose by 0.6 percentage points, to 13.6%, in Q3 of 2024.
Participation in the labor force among young Saudi men increased by 1.1 percentage points, to 34.6%.
Among Saudi men in general, participation in the labor force increased by 0.6 percentage points, to 66.9%, and the employment-to-population ratio reached 63.7%.
Among Saudi men and women in the prime working-age group (25–54 years), participation in the labor force rose by 0.7 percentage points, to 69.4%, and the employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.3 percentage points, to 64.8%.