IPO-bound Manipal Health Enterprises is leading the race to acquire Sahyadri Hospitals with a Rs 6,838 crore ($800 million) bid, people familiar with the matter said. It is trailed closely by Blackstone, they said.
While the sources did not reveal the financial terms of the global investment firm’s offer, the strong interest in the Pune-headquartered hospital chain owned by Canada’s pension fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is symptomatic of the high-intensity consolidation ongoing in India’s hospital space. IHH Healthcare-backed Fortis Healthcare and EQT Partners also submitted bids on June 23, which was the last day to submit binding financial bids.
‘Uncompetitive’ Offers
Their offers were termed “uncompetitive” by people ET spoke with. Manipal, Blackstone, Fortis and OTPP declined to comment. EQT did not responded to ET’s queries until press time Sunday.
OTPP acquired Sahyadri from Everstone Capital in August 2022 at a valuation of around Rs 2,500 crore, outbidding Max Healthcare. Everstone had bought the hospital chain three years earlier in 2019 from its founder, neurosurgeon Charudutt Apte, for about Rs 1,000 crore. ET first reported on December 6 last year that OTPP was planning to put Sahyadri Hospitals on the block. In May, ET reported that Manipal Health, Singapore’s IHH Healthcare, Blackstone-owned hospital chain Quality Care India, KKR & Co and EQT Partners were among those that had submitted initial bids for it.
Source: Economic Times