UEMS eyes strategic expansion
UEMS Singapore and Taiwan chief executive officer Tan Cheh Tian said it is evaluating multiple acquisition targets across Singapore and Taiwan.
This is part of the company's growth strategy, particularly in the integrated facilities management (IFM) and healthcare support services segments.
The targets include companies offering bundled services such as mechanical and electrical (M&E) maintenance, pest control and landscaping.
"Basically, as part of our next phase of growth, we are looking at several targets (acquisition). What I can say is IFM is an area that we wish to grow.
"These potential acquisitions are of various sizes and are still at the evaluation stage," she said during a media visit to UEMS' operations in Singapore recently.
Negotiations remain in the early stages, but Tan confirmed that the company is actively pursuing opportunities in Singapore and Taiwan to strengthen its regional footprint.
UEMS currently employs a combined workforce of 10,004 staff and generates over RM1 billion (SG$300 million) in annual revenue.
Taiwan accounts for the larger share with 7,400 employees, RM546 million in revenue and 265 active service accounts.
In Singapore, the company has over 3,000 staff managing 140 service accounts with RM462 million in revenue - 80 per cent of which comes from the healthcare sector.
UEMS is present in all public healthcare clusters in Singapore - SingHealth, National Healthcare Group (NHG) and National University Health System (NUHS).
It provides essential services such as housekeeping, portering, health attendants, meal delivery, and visitor management.
The company is recognised as one of the top two players in Singapore's healthcare support services industry.
Beyond acquisitions, Tan highlighted the company's aggressive push toward digitisation with most of hospital operations under UEMS having been fully digitised, supported by the deployment of autonomous cleaning and service robots.
"We do not rely on third-party vendors. We have our own in-house command centre, smart toilet systems and a strong internal technology team.
"These solutions form part of a comprehensive offering to clients, improving service delivery while reducing reliance on manual labour.
"Instead of physically demanding work, our employees now manage machines, which helps us extend their working lifespan, especially as Singapore faces an ageing population," she said.
On market challenges, Tan noted that labour shortages remain a critical issue, particularly in Singapore where demand continues to outstrip supply despite rising wages.
She said Taiwan faces a similar crunch, although it is less acute at the executive level.
"Even at higher costs, we are still losing people to other industries like manufacturing and services. It is not just operational roles, but also executives and above," she said.
Tan said to manage the impact of Singapore's progressive wage model and Taiwan's recent minimum wage hike, UEMS has been negotiating with clients to adjust contract rates in line with higher operational costs.
However, Tan acknowledged that it has been "an uphill task" post-Covid-19, with margins under pressure.
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