A consortium led by private equity firm Ascent Capital is investing in a healthcare solutions company, roughly nine months after investing in a Kerala-based hospital chain.
The mid-market PE firm, along with co-investor Vintage Classic, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Mumbai-listed Strides Pharma's wholly-owned unit Pivot Path, according to separate announcements over the weekend. Strides will retain roughly a 20% stake in the unit.
Ascent's investment in Pivot Path, which was carved out of Strides Pharma, values the unit at Rs 230 crore (around $24.4 million) on a post-money basis, according to stock exchange disclosures by the Bengaluru-headquartered drugmaker.
The consortium's investment will be of Rs 100 crore, of which Rs 50 crore will be for capital infusion in Pivot Path, the disclosures showed. The agreements are set to be executed before the end of this month, while Ascent's primary infusion is expected to be done end of July.
Pivot Path was established within Strides' global capability centre (GCC) Arco Lab Pvt Ltd, where it developed capabilities across life sciences consulting, digital transformation, quality and compliance, and technology-enabled operational services. The company focusses on delivering solutions in life sciences supported by AI and analytics, to clients in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors.
With the growing demand from pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, the unit evolved into an independent platform serving major customers. To support plans such as building agentic-AI platforms and to obtain access to external capital, Pivot Path was carved out of Strides last month with approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
"As the business enters its next phase, we believe this is the right time to bring in a strategic investment partner with the expertise and capital to accelerate its growth," said Badree Komandur, managing director and group CEO of Strides.
"This transaction unlocks value for Strides, provides Pivot Path with the resources to scale [up] independently, and allows Strides to retain meaningful participation in its future success," Komandur added.
As of FY26, Pivot Path contributed to 3% of Strides' revenue, according to a disclosure. Pivot Path generated Rs 144.7 crore in topline, including revenues for services rendered to Strides.
Fund's investments
For Ascent, this is the second such healthcare deal in several months. Last September, the PE firm Ascent invested Rs 150 crore in Thrissur, Kerala-based Daya General Hospital Ltd, the company behind the Daya Group of Hospitals in Kerala, marking the first investment from the Bengaluru-based PE firm’s new fund, which may have hit its first close, allowing it to start deploying capital.
While Ascent hasn’t disclosed details of its new fund, VCCircle reported in 2024 that the PE firm was seeking commitments from limited partners for its third vehicle, seven years after closing its previous fund. In October 2024, the PE firm tapped the Self-Reliant India Fund (SRI Fund) as a limited partner, raising Rs 125 crore from the fund of funds. Ascent is aiming to raise around Rs 2,000 crore for the fund, VCCircle reported at the time.
Ascent has backed many companies in the past, including BigBasket and Fresh2Home. In the healthcare and allied sectors, it has backed hospital chain KIMS Group, insurer Acko, and fitness chain Cure.fit in the past.
