Thursday, July 16, 2015
Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), spearheaded by billionaire Ranjan Pai, is set to acquire Medall Healthcare, a southern diagnostics chain, in a deal valued at about Rs 1,000 crore ($180 million), two people directly familiar with the matter said.
The deal marks Manipal's foray into diagnostics business. Medall will not be part of Manipal Health Enterprises, one of India's largest specialty hospital networks. It will be parked as a separate business under MEMG, a major player in education and healthcare services.
Manipal is expected to buy private equity fund Peepul Capital's 80% stake, while the management led by Raju Venkatraman is likely to keep their remaining shares. "Manipal has signed exclusivity and is working on final agreement details currently," a source mentioned earlier in the report said.
Medall claims to be among India's top five diagnostics chains and the largest in offering radiology services. Medall operates more than 60 labs across southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, besides operating a slew of public private healthcare partnerships. In 2009, Peepul partnered with serial entrepreneur Raju Venkatraman to acquire Medall, which was known as Precision Diagnostics previously.
When contacted, Peepul Capital and MEMG declined to comment on the report.
MEMG primary consists of Manipal Global Education Services, Manipal Health Enterprises, Manipal Acunova and Manipal Servicecorp Facility Management, among others. Pai, 42, who helms the group as chief executive and managing director, is a savvy deal maker having struck partnerships with marquee investors to grow businesses.
Manipal is likely to effect the acquisition on its own, and may not rely on existing investor partnerships to clinch the deal. TPG Capital and India Value Fund Advisors are investors in Manipal's hospitals company.
Medall struck a few buyouts to expand its footprint. It had acquired Clumax Research and Diagnostics as part of an entry strategy to Bangalore. India's rapidly growing diagnostics market has seen the emergence of national chains such SRL Diagnostics (majority owned by Fortis Healthcare), Dr Lal PathLabs and Metropolis.
economictimes.indiatimes.com
