Mint Kolkata

‘Manipal Hospitals to continue expansion’

- Naman Suri naman.suri@livemint.com NEW DELHI

Manipal Hospitals aims to keep boosting its presence across the country through a mix of organic and inorganic expansions, its managing director and chief executive officer Dilip Jose said on Tuesday, a day after the hospital chain announced the purchase of a majority stake in the Kolkatabas­ed healthcare group Medica Synergie.

In an interactio­n with Mint, Jose emphasized that Manipal Hospitals’ expansion would be gradual, and the strategy is not dictated by any specific timelines or capacity.

“We don’t have any bed capacity targets nor does any set of timelines bind us. We as a hospital chain are looking to expand through a mix of greenfield and brownfield. While greenfield­s are a little easier to plan, brownfield­s will be opportunis­tic depending on what becomes available,” Jose added. “It’s a fragmented sector there is a lot of opportunit­y to grow and consolidat­e and, so, we just want to continue our growth momentum.”

He said that the hospital chain plans to commence constructi­on on a plot of land, owned by it, in Kolkata over the next year. The Bengalurub­ased group is keen to augment its footprint in key regions such as Kerala, Hyderabad, Vizag, Pune, and Delhi NCR.

“We are looking at greenfield options in Delhi NCR and Pune. We also have a plot of land in Rajarhat, Kolkata, where we are thinking of launching constructi­on for a new hospital over the next one year. We are also planning to expand in Siliguri, part of the Medica associatio­n we have. Post Raipur, we will also look at other parts of Odisha. While Kerala and Hyderabad remain geographie­s of great interest to us, brownfield remains opportunis­tic,” Jose added.

Manipal Hospitals will use a

The hospital chain will expand gradually, and the strategy is not dictated by any specific timelines or capacity

mix of equity and debt to finance its expansion.

The group also hasn’t started any work on plans for an initial public offer (IPO). “We know we have large expansion plans, but we want to be conservati­ve with our borrowing while ensuring that funding does not get in the way. We know we have an option of an IPO, but we haven’t really started working on that.”

Earlier, Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government, had reduced its stake to 51% in Manipal Health Enterprise­s (MHE) by selling up to 8% stake in the company to a clutch of investors-Mubadala Investment Company, Novo Holdings, and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

 ?? ?? The chain on Monday announced the acquisitio­n of Kolkata-based Medica.
The chain on Monday announced the acquisitio­n of Kolkata-based Medica.

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