Carlyle picks up significant minority stake in Medanta Hospitals

By Lohit Jagwani

  • 19 Dec 2013

Private Equity major Carlyle Group has made a strategic minority investment in Medanta Hospital for an undisclosed amount and also acquired significant equity stake held by Avenue Capital, an earlier investor in the company, the fund announced on Thursday.

“With an experienced management team, a best-in-class clinical team and infrastructure, Global Health has achieved a high distinctive positioning as a destination for complicated cases with a strong reputation in India. We will leverage our healthcare industry expertise to support the company’s growth plans and further improve the quality of its medical services,” said Neeraj Bharadwaj, managing director of The Carlyle Group.

While the group did not disclose financial details in a release, it had earlier received a nod from CCI to pick up over 26 per cent stake in the company.

“Avenue Capital Group is proud to have partnered successfully with the Global Health management team in the pioneering effort to establish Medanta – The Medicity as a leading multi-super specialty institute in India over the past four years,” said Mark Harris, head of Asia and senior managing director at Avenue Capital Group. 

According to an earlier report in The Times of India, Carlyle was keen to acquire 24 per cent stake in the hospital chain for around Rs 950 crore and had valued the company at $650 million. Avenue Capital was planning to exit its investment in the company.

At the time, all the parties declined to comment.

“Global Health has become one of the largest hospital and healthcare providers in India within three years of launch and is positioned as a go-to facility for complicated cases. We are pleased with our achievements, and are excited to partner with Carlyle as we continue to enhance our medical services, expand our business and contribute to the community,” Naresh Trehan of Global Health said.

Medanta is spread on 43 acres and has a capacity of 1,250 beds and over 350 critical care beds and 45 operation theatres catering to 20 specialities. Apart from Avenue Capital, construction firm Punj Lloyd owns around 17 per cent stake in the company. Trehan and co-promoter of the company Sunil Sachdeva hold around 54 per cent.

This is one of the many big quantum deals this year which has reaffirmed investor interest in healthcare delivery space in the country. Other deals in this space include IFC investing $100 million in Fortis and KKR investing $89 million in Apollo Hospitals among others.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)