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Market-bound PharmEasy buys Lightrock-backed healthcare supply chain Aknamed

By Joseph Rai

  • 14 Sep 2021
Market-bound PharmEasy buys Lightrock-backed healthcare supply chain Aknamed
(From L-R), Dhaval Shah, Harsh Parekh, Siddharth Shah, Hardik Dedhia, and Dharmil Sheth, co-founders of PharmEasy

Epharmacy PharmEasy, which earlier this year bought listed diagnostic firm Thyrocare Technologies in a first for an Indian startup, has acquired healthcare supply chain startup Akna Medical Pvt Ltd (Aknamed) that is backed by Lightrock.

The acquisition was done at an enterprise valuation of over Rs 1,000 crore, a person familiar with the development told VCCircle.

In July, VCCircle reported that PharmEasy was close to buying Aknamed for Rs 1,200-1,300 crore ($160.7-174 million).

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Separately, Entrackr, citing regulatory filings, said that Aknamed has approved the allotment of 975,937 equity shares at Rs 3,155.94 to PharmEasy's parent API Holdings to raise Rs 308 crore. 

In the secondary deal, PharmEasy has spent around Rs 380 crore to acquire stakes of Aknamed cofounders and angel investors. 

Post the fresh allotment of shares, PharmEasy has a total 67.3% stake in Aknamed followed by Lightstone Fund with a 31.3% stake.

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Emails sent to PharmEasy and Aknamed did not elicit an immediate response.

Aknamed's acquisition by PharmEasy comes a few months after the healthcare supply chain startup itself acquired Vardhman Health Specialties for $35 million (Rs 255 crore) in May.

Aknamed was founded by Saurabh Pandey and Mahadevan Narayanamoni in 2018. Mayank Kapoor, Shaunak Joshi and Varun Vohra later came on board as co-founders.  

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The startup offers procurement solutions to hospital chains and mid-sized standalone hospitals with the help of its in-house technology and analytics tool SmartBUY.  

In April 2020, Aknamed raised $7 million in its Series A funding from Lightrock. In July 2019, it raised $500,000 in angel funding.

For PharmEasy, which is backed by the likes of Temasek, CDPQ and TPG Growth, the acquisition is expected to broaden its offerings ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).

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In May, VCCircle reported that PharmEasy was planning to go public and had tapped JM Financial and Kotak Investment Banking for the offering.   

Mint had reported last month that API Holdings aims to raise a billion dollars at a valuation of $9 billion in its IPO later this year.

In June, PharmEasy surprised markets with an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Thyrocare for Rs 4,546 crore, in a deal that saw a startup buying a listed traditional company in India.

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