Ribera Salud assures that the competition commission has authorized its agreement with DKV

Thursday 9th September 2021 – CARLOS LÓPEZ with Mike Smith

The Ribera Salud health group has released a statement in which it has confirmed that it now controls 100% of Dénia Health Department after acquiring DKV’s 65% shareholding in Marina Salud.

Last month, the group reached an agreement with DKV Seguros to acquire the latter’s share of the regional health concession, a deal which was conditional on authorization from the National Markets and Competition Commission, consent which Ribera Salud claims to have been given, although it has not yet been posted on the state agency’s website.

And, in the face of growing public discomfort at a deal which places the company as sole shareholder of the health department in the Marina Alta, Ribera Salud has assured that “the Valencian health law doesn’t apply in this case because it is much later than the start of the concession”, referring to a law that states that the same operator cannot own more than a 40% share in three or more concessions. Given this, the regional government has already announced that it had requested a report from its legal advisors.

Elisa Tarazone, the CEO of Ribera Salud, said that “this agreement is the result of the natural evolution of a relationship of loyal collaboration with DKV as well as a commitment to serving the citizens of the Dénia area and caring for your health”. She assured that the deal “will not mean changes in the working conditions for the staff or in the plans of Marina Salud”.

Josep Santacreu, CEO of DKV, said that “we are very satisfied with the management carried out over these past 13 years. Not only have we met the objectives that we set ourselves but we have substantially improved the quality of the health care and generated a very positive economic and social impact in the region. We want to thank and congratulate the staff, especially for its management during the pandemic”.

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