SINGAPORE Medical Group (SMG) has proposed to acquire the 50 per cent stake it does not own in its joint-venture company, SMG International Vietnam (SMG IV), for S$3.04 million as part of plans to expand in Vietnam amid rising private healthcare demand.

SMG IV was incorporated in December 2016 to explore and invest in potential growth and acquisition opportunities.

Following the proposed acquisition, SMG will in turn effectively own a 42 per cent stake in CityClinic Asia Investments (CCAI), which operates three medical centres in Ho Chi Minh City, said the group in a bourse filing on Thursday.

CCAI's wholly-owned subsidiary, CityClinic Vietnam Limited, holds a 100 per cent foreign-investor licence for Vietnamese healthcare operations and runs the CarePlus Vietnam brand of medical centres.

SMG said the CarePlus footprint spans strategically across Ho Chi Minh City, including two 15,000 square feet (sq ft) centres in the Tan Binh District and District 7. More recently, it opened its third site, which covers 10,000 sq ft in Ho Chi Minh City's prime District 1.

These centres provide multi-disciplinary healthcare specialists services, which focus on health screening, women's health, paediatrics and diagnostic imaging, among others.

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Vietnam remains one of the fastest growing economies in South-east Asia, with real gross domestic product growth expected to average at 6.1 per cent annually from 2019 to 2025.

Amid this rapidly advancing economy, a large pool of expatriates, alarming rates of cancer and a total fertility rate of 2.0 - among the highest in Asia and almost double that of Singapore's - Vietnam presents a unique opportunity for SMG's next phase of overseas growth, it said.

Beng Teck Liang, chief executive officer of SMG, said: "Our latest investment will ensure that we are well-positioned to expand our operations in core competencies such as women's health, paediatrics, oncology and other specialist verticals.

SMG shares closed down 1 Singapore cent or 3.1 per cent to 31 cents on Thursday.