Singapore state investor Temasek, has acquired an additional 41% stake in Manipal Health Enterprises, taking its total holding to 59%, a report by The Economic Times stated.
The investment, which has been routed through Sheares Health (Temasek’s wholly-owned healthcare platform, has pegged the valuation of the hospital chain at Rs 29,000 crore, the report further stated.
Recently, Manipal Health Enterprises made headlines when it acquired Kolkata-headquartered AMRI (Advanced Medical Research Institute) Hospitals for Rs 2,400 crore.
Separately, Temasek is also in talks to invest in Kids Clinic India, which operates the Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, as first reported by DealStreetAsia last year. The hospital chain’s existing backers namely True North, NewQuest Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital India and Indium Capital are also understood to be in the fray.
The transactions go on to signal how investors are increasingly looking to ramp up their investments in Indian hospitals that are looking to capitalise on the abatement of the pandemic and unmet demand for healthcare services in the country.
The need for funding has gone up as hospitals are focusing on a ‘cluster approach’ — wherein they operate in a location cluster to tap brand, cost, practice and management synergies — to cash in on the huge pent-up demand for various treatments that had taken a backseat during the COVID19 crisis.
In March this year, IIFL PE, a private equity fund managed by IIFL Asset Management Limited (IIFL AMC), invested $70 million in Sri Kauvery Medical Care (India) Limited, which owns the Kauvery Hospitals chain.
The trend of M&A in the hospital segment started gaining steam last year. Among deals closed in 2022, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) acquired a significant majority stake in Sahyadri Hospitals chain from the Everstone Group in India. Interestingly, it marked the Canada-based investor’s first control private equity buyout in the country. Meanwhile, Jodhpur-headquartered ASG Eye Hospitals raised a whopping $188 million (Rs 1,500 crore) led by PE firms General Atlantic and Kedaara Capital in September last year.