Malaysia's EPF Weighs £1.4 Billion Sale of UK Private Hospitals
Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund is preparing to sell a portfolio of UK private hospitals that are valued at about £1.4 billion ($1.9 billion).
The fund has appointed broker Knight Frank to offer the 12 properties for sale, people with knowledge of the process said. The hospitals, which an EPF led consortium bought for about £700 million in 2013, are operated by Spire Healthcare Group Plc, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private.
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The departure of Matt Hobbs makes one thing clear: Wolves are going all-in on Pereira
It is entirely possible that Wolverhampton Wanderers' unexpected footballing restructure will work out well. There are clear signs that the decisions made this week might signal a loosening of the purse strings from owners Fosun, which will give the club a better chance of building a stronger squad. Advertisement But it is hard to view the departure of sporting director Matt Hobbs 'by mutual consent' — and the associated changes at the top of the club — on the eve of a crucial transfer window as anything other than a calculated gamble. There are many things to take from Hobbs' exit and the expected arrival of the former Sampdoria technical director Domenico Teti, but the overriding sense is that the move means greater authority for Vitor Pereira. The popular head coach has made a big impression on chairman Jeff Shi, so much so that he and owners Fosun have decided to expand the remit of the head coach, who will now take on more of an old-school manager's role with a greater say over which players come and go this summer. Teti might take on a similar title to the one vacated by Hobbs, but his remit is expected to be very different — a hands-on lieutenant for Pereira, working to the manager's will and putting in place his vision rather than Hobbs' lighter-touch approach, which comprised overseeing wider football operations, focusing mainly on recruitment and offering help to the head coach at training-ground level when asked for it. That puts Pereira front and centre as the most powerful head coach at Wolves since Nuno Espirito Santo. While Julen Lopetegui was a leader at the training ground, he did not stick around long enough to fully cement his authority. And it seems inconceivable that Fosun would have given the head coach such expanded powers if they did not plan to back him in the summer transfer window and give him the squad he wants. That is a good thing for Wolves. After two or three years of frugality in the transfer market to claw back the overspending at the end of the Nuno era and under Bruno Lage, there are clear signs that Fosun now accept the need for targeted investment in the squad. So, for the first time in several summers, sources with knowledge of the restructuring — speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their positions — have predicted this transfer window could result in Wolves spending more than they raise on transfers. Advertisement The risk, however, is clear. Pereira's impact at Wolves last season is not in doubt, taking a team on its knees at the end of Gary O'Neil's rollercoaster reign and dragging it clear of relegation trouble with time to spare, all while building a charming bond with supporters and his players. But Wolves are now asking the Portuguese coach to fulfil a role for which he has little recent experience. In the past 12 years since leaving Porto, his hometown club, Pereira has held 10 managerial or coaching roles, with his three years in China at Shanghai SIPG the longest of his stints. He has won titles and had many more successes than failures, but he has rarely remained long enough to do the kind of building job he is now being entrusted with by Wolves. He has the charisma and knowledge that suggest he is capable of being more than a journeyman head coach, but he does not have masses of recent proof on his CV. So the decision still represents a calculated leap of faith. As for Hobbs, he can leave Wolves with his reputation enhanced on the back of two and a half years in which he has helped the club navigate choppy financial waters while maintaining their Premier League status, even if there were some scary moments along the way. Each of his transfer windows as sporting director came with a different remit — from the pressing need to give Lopetegui the tools for survival in his first, to the need to claw back a big financial deficit in his second, to supporting O'Neil to build a younger, fresher side in the next couple while continuing to turn a net profit, to another desperate rescue act this January. Each time, Wolves achieved the owners' objectives — even if Hobbs might have found himself at the centre of supporter discontent at the absence of consistency and coherence that, in truth, came from above him. And as well as pulling off the deals that made the necessary short-term impact when needed — Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina in January 2023 and Emmanuel Agbadou and Marshall Munetsi two years later — Hobbs left Wolves with assets such as the recently sold Matheus Cunha, Joao Gomes and Andre, who are certain to achieve huge profits, and others including Jorgen Strand Larsen and Rodrigo Gomes who might do likewise. Advertisement It is impossible to fully assess the impact of a sporting director at a club like Wolves, where ultimately key decisions are taken and policy is set above their head. But it is clear that Hobbs got much more right than he got wrong in his two and a half years in the top job, which followed seven and a half in various other roles. He achieved the profits the owners demanded while helping keep the club in the top tier and his input was respected by the club, who offered him a role in their new-look setup in an effort to keep his expertise. Ultimately, Hobbs decided a position with watered-down responsibilities was not for him and chose the clean break that he felt was better for both him and the club, leaving Shi and Pereira free to build on the foundations he laid. If Fosun backs them with the kind of investment that was rarely seen on Hobbs' watch, more exciting times might lie ahead. And if Pereira proves as good at team-building off the pitch as he has at team-building on it, the change might turn out to be inspired. But the mere presence of such significant 'ifs' highlights that it all comes with a degree of risk.
