Malaysia's IHH buys stake in Indian hospital group
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IHH Healthcare will take up a 73.4 per cent stake in an India-based private hospital chain for 12.84 billion rupees (Bt6.9 billion) to expand its operations in the world's second-most populous country.
In a statement, IHH said it had signed definitive agreements via its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Gleneagles Development to take up the majority stake in Ravindranath GE Medical Associates (Global Hospitals).
IHH said it would allocate 2.65 billion rupees to finance the hospital chain’s capital expenditure requirements and to optimise its current borrowing cost.
“This will be a game-changer for IHH. Together with our existing hospitals, the acquisition of Global Hospitals catapults us towards becoming one of the leading hospital groups in India,” IHH managing director and chief executive officer Dr Tan See Leng said.
“India has tremendous growth potential with its rapidly increasing demand for quality private healthcare,” he added.
Global Hospitals operates a chain of five hospitals, with about 1,100 beds in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai in India. The group’s number of beds is expected to increase to around 1,900 beds in the next five years.
IHH’s portfolio in India, on the other hand, comprises about 1,800 beds, with the potential to increase to 4,000 beds in the next five years.
IHH said it had plans to consolidate all Global Hospitals facilities under its “Gleneagles” brand.
“The acquisition of Global Hospitals will boost IHH’s beds globally to more than 8,000 across 45 hospitals in 10 countries,” the group said. The deal should be completed within three months.
Its expanded presence would enable IHH to extract further business synergies and cost savings at various levels, the group said.
