Blackstone To Acquire Majority Stake In CARE Hospitals For $ 700 million

Blackstone on Monday said it has inked a pact to acquire a majority stake in Hyderabad-based CARE Hospitals from Evercare, a platform of TPG RISE funds, for $ 700 million (around Rs 5,827 crore), thus foraying into country's healthcare services sector.

Private equity funds managed by Blackstone have acquired 72.5 per cent in Care Hospitals at an enterprise value of Rs 6,600 crore.

Besides, in a separate deal, CARE Hospitals and TPG will acquire an 80 per cent stake in Kerala-based KIMSHEALTH entailing an outgo of around $ 400 million, a source confirmed.

Blackstone will put in $ 300 million and TPG the rest $ 100 million as part of the arrangement.

So Blackstone is committing an investment of $ 1 billion in the overall deal, the source added.

The addition of KIMSHEALTH to the CARE Hospitals network creates one of India's largest hospital platforms with 23 facilities across 11 cities in India, the investment management firm stated.

The combined platform will have more than 4,000 beds. TPG, whose shareholding in CARE Hospitals is held in its Evercare Health Fund, will retain a significant minority stake in the combined platform.

KIMSHEALTH will continue under the leadership of M I Sahadulla in the next wave of growth of the platform.

"We are pleased to make Blackstone's first investment in India's healthcare services sector and partner with TPG to create one of the largest healthcare platforms in India," Blackstone Private Equity Managing Director Ganesh Mani noted.

CARE Hospitals and KIMSHEALTH are trusted brands in the Indian healthcare space with a reputation of prioritising patients and have a track record of excellence in medical ethics and clinical outcomes, he added.

"We aim to build a patient centric hospital platform focused on high clinical care quality and top-notch service," Mani said. CARE Hospitals has presence in Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Indore, Nagpur, Raipur and Visakhapatnam.

KIMS Healthcare Management Ltd is the biggest private healthcare organisation in Kerala.