European firm buys 22% stake in city hospital chain
European healthcare firm Medicover on Tuesday announced that it has picked up 22 per cent stake in city-based multi-speciality hospital chain Maxcure Hospitals after investing `100 crore.
Medicover also informed that it has an option to raise its stake up to 51 per cent in Maxcure Hospitals within two years by investing an additional `220 crore.
Speaking to the media, Maxcure Hospitals managing director Anil Krishna said, “Our aim is to expand pan-India and overseas, and for this we are partnering with Medicover,” said.
The Indian healthcare sector has attracted several foreign companies in the recent times as the outlook of the sector looks promising due to the fast rising income in the country and deepening penetration of health insurance in urban areas.
Foreign companies have investments with varying shareholding in all major corporate hospital groups in the city.
Two major healthcare providers — Global Hospitals and Continental Hospitals — are currently controlled by the foreign entities.
If the Swedish company exercises its option to increase its shareholding in MaxCure, the ownership of the hospital would get transferred to the foreign entity.
MaxCure Hospitals has nine hospitals across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It had a turnover of `350 crore last fiscal and expects to cross `500 crore turnover in the current fiscal.
Mr Krishna added that they are now looking at expanding to Bengaluru and Pune.
When asked about reasons behind selecting India, Medicover chairman Fredrik Stenmo said, “India has a strategic importance for Medicover. The search for a strategic investment in healthcare received the best start with the acquisition of stake in the MaxCure.”
This is the second investment of Medicover, after it ventured into the Indian healthcare sector last year with the launch of IVF clinics in Delhi, where seven clinics opened and another 6-9 clinics are due to be opened by the end of 2017.
MaxCure Hospitals, which was started in 2015 by a group of medical professional, has 1,600 beds across Hyderabad, Nellore, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Vizag and Kurnool. It plans to add 1,000 beds in two years. It plans to add another hospital in Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh.