*

Has already invested almost 4 bln euros in healthcare

*

Has cash firepower of 1.7 bln euros already allocated

*

To receive around 1.1 bln euros in dividends during 2024

*

Exor NAV rose to 35.5 bln euros last year

(Updates with CFO comments at analyst call)

MILAN, April 11 (Reuters) - Exor, the

investment arm of the Agnelli family, has a growing interest in

the healthcare industry, where it has already invested almost 4

billion euros ($4.3 billion), CEO John Elkann said on Thursday.

"The increased cost of healthcare services combined with a

shortage of medical staff is driving demand for innovative new

approaches to tackle global health problems," he said in his

annual letter to Exor shareholders.

Exor views healthcare as a "long-term, structural growth

sector," added Elkann, the scion of the Agnelli family and chair

of automakers Stellantis ( STLA ) and Ferrari ( RACE ).

Exor's investments cover a broad range of industries,

including manufacturing, media, fashion, sport and technology.

In addition to Ferrari ( RACE ), it controls companies including

agriculture and construction machine maker CNH and

Serie A soccer club Juventus. It is also the single

largest shareholder in Stellantis ( STLA ), owner of Italian brands

including Fiat and Alfa Romeo.

Netherlands-based Exor entered the healthcare business in

recent years both through direct investments in companies and

through its venture capital arm, fuelled by the proceeds of the

sale of its reinsurer PartnerRe in 2022.

Last year Exor spent 2.6 billion euros to become the single

largest investor in Philips with a 15% shareholding in

what is now a health technology business. In 2022, Exor bought

stakes in France's Institut Merieux and in Lifenet Healthcare,

an Italian company managing hospitals and outpatient clinics.

It has said its main investment areas besides healthcare are

technology and fashion.

Presenting 2023 results Exor published on Thursday, CFO

Guido De Boer said the company currently had 1.7 billion euros

of cash available.

The cash however has been already allocated to planned

investments, including a further one in Institut Merieux and in

Exor's share buyback programme, he said.

On top of that, the company will receive cash from

dividend payments for a total of around 1.1 billion euros this

year.

Exor's net asset value (NAV) rose to 35.5 billion euros

in 2023, up from 28.2 billion euros in the previous year, it

said, mostly driven by the performance of Ferrari ( RACE ) and

Stellantis ( STLA ).

Exor also said that starting from Jan. 1, based on IFRS 10

European accounting rules, it changed its status from a holding

company to an 'investment entity'.

This would allow it to deconsolidate portfolio companies

from its balance sheet and simply account for them at their fair

value, with an estimated one-off non-cash gain of approximately

12 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9315 euros)