Falck acquires leading private ambulance company in Malaysia

By acquiring First Ambulance, Falck forms a strong partnership with an experienced local player to establish a platform for the expansion of an emergency medical services business throughout Malaysia.

Falck has acquired 51 percent of First Ambulance Services Sdn. Bhd., which operates 18 ambulances mainly in and around the capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

“It is Falck’s ambition to leverage on the current market position of First Ambulance to expand into additional regions and cities in Malaysia, as well as potentially enter the ambulance services market in nearby Singapore”, says Thomas Holm Jensen, Vice President, Falck Emergency Asia.

First Ambulance has since its inception in 2003 successfully established itself as a market-leading provider of high quality ambulance services in Malaysia. The company operates its own dispatch centre and all vehicles are equipped with GPS tracking as well as a radio system in order to communicate with hospitals. It employs 48 dedicated and experienced personnel and responded to over 6700 emergency calls in 2015.

“Malaysia is one of the most interesting markets in South East Asia for the operation of a private ambulance business due to its good road infrastructure, rapid economic growth and increasing demand for high quality healthcare services. Today, the private Malaysian ambulance market is fragmented and still somewhat immature, and together with First Ambulance we intend to become a consolidator in the market and continue to raise overall standards”, says Thomas Holm Jensen.

The founder of First Ambulance, Bruno Penafort, believes that his company and Falck are an ideal match.

"We are thrilled to form a long-term partnership with clear ambitions to build a nationwide emergency medical services business based on strong values and competences, and we proudly bring our commitment and local expertise into this project", says Bruno Penafort, who will continue on the board of directors of the company, while his two sons, Justin and Steven Penafort, will remain key members of the management team.