A clutch of investors is exploring sale of their stakes in India’s largest dialysis chain, NephroPlus, valuing the chain at ‘1,800-2,000 crore ($200-250 million).
The US-based Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) and the World Bank’s lending arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) are exploring the sale of about 30% stake in NephroPlus, said multiple people aware of the development.
Bessemer and IFC will exit fully by selling about 30% stake together. However, the largest shareholder, Investcorp, is yet to decide on offloading its stake, added sources. Bahrain-based Investcorp owns about 40% stake in NephroPlus.
IIFL is another investor holding about 5-6% stake, while the promoters hold about 30% in NephroPlus.
The Mumbai-based investment bank Avendus is advising the investors for the stake sale. A clutch of global PE funds has been approached for the stake sale, added sources.
NephroPlus, operated by Nephrocare Health Services, was founded by Vikram Vuppala, Sandeep Gudibanda and Kamal Shah in 2009. NephroPlus operates 300 plus dialysis centres in more than 180 cities across four countries. NephroPlus treats 22,000 patients per month and has treated eight million people to date.
Mails sent to founder & CEO Vikram Vuppala and spokespersons of IFC and BVP did not elicit any response, while a Investcorp spokesperson declined to comment.
NephroPlus has an EBITDA of ‘100-120 crore in FY24, said sources. To date, NephroPlus has raised about $104 million through several rounds.
In its latest round, the company raised $24 million (‘180 crore) as Series E funding led by IIFL Asset Management (IIFL AMC), along with existing investors Investcorp and BVP in 2021.
Investcorp entered the company with a $45-million cheque as part of its Series D round of funding in 2019. In this round, three-year-old investor SeaLink Capital exited the company.
Source: Economic Times