at the key players in the pan-European health care market,
and examines how much the global credit crunch is really biting
them.
Few companies practicing health care leasing have not been
touched by the effects of the credit crunch.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Not unsurprisingly, some bank-based players and independents are
under greater pressure because of funding shortages. Most, sources
say, have become less aggressive because of the need to prioritise
to whom they lend.
Siemens Financial Services (SFS) CEO, Jonathan Andrew, says
there is the possibility the market may start to wane, but since
captives have maintained a strong focus, and are diversifying their
lines, and medical equipment leasing is increasingly being
performed with the private sector, the market should retain much of
its strength.
There have even been some moves in the market that suggest
health care leasing is not going off the boil.
SFS, for instance, which runs white label products, recently
established a new practice finance service aimed at the primary
care health sector, which is currently challenged in investing in
updated technologies and facilities.
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By GlobalDataDavid Martin, SFS public sector general manager, says: “Many GPs
have learned the hard way that it is simply not sustainable to keep
large amounts of capital tied up in rapidly depreciating
equipment.
“For more than 40 years innovative organisations, both within
the private and public sector have utilised leasing to avoid
equipment obsolescence and maximise productivity…
“There is simply no reason why the NHS, and in particular GPs,
cannot reap the same benefit as private sector advocates of
leasing.”
The move by SFS into the primary care sector reflects lessors’
habit of specialisation in the health care finance market.
Philips Medical Capital Europe, of which 40 percent is owned by
Phillips and 60 percent by SG, concentrates on the German, UK,
French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch markets, as well as, more
recently, some key CEE markets. Its US equivalent, a joint venture
between Philips and De Lage Landen International formed in 2002,
concentrates on financing diagnostic imaging equipment.
In terms of scale, SFS is one of the biggest players in the
European health care leasing market. Within the UK it provides over
50 percent of health care equipment financing to the NHS.
SFS, GE Commercial Finance, and Philips Medical Capital Europe
constitute 90 per cent of the large ticket medical equipment
leasing market – predominantly CT and MRI scanners, or assets that
comprise €0.5 million and upwards, according to Jonathan Andrew,
CEO of SFS.
As the table on page 31 illustrates, the main players in the
market have some key vendor finance partnerships.
However, the real wealth of their multiple partnerships is
difficult to quantify, given the general sentiment of secrecy and
competition amongst lessors who refused to comment on various
individual joint ventures or vendor finance arrangements.
