Mumbai: Fortis Healthcare Ltd, a company controlled and managed by the Singh family, the promoters of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, has acquired Hiranandani Healthcare Pvt. Ltd for Rs25.6 crore in an effort to expand its presence, hitherto largely restricted to the north and the western parts of India.
With this acquisition, Hiranandani Healthcare’s work-in-progress 152-bed facility in Navi Mumbai comes under the Fortis fold.
“We acquired this hospital about two weeks ago and the facility is still under development. It will be commissioned within the next 12 months,” said Harpal Singh, executive chairman of Fortis. The company now has 12 hospitals, most of them in and around New Delhi.
The health-care company now plans a facility in the south, which will give it a pan-India presence. Its foray into the southern market is likely to happen by the end of the year, said Singh, who added that the company is considering either acquiring a southern health- care firm or signing a management contract (where it gets to manage a hospital owned by someone else) with one.
Fortis has also started work on a new hospital in New Delhi, which will cost it an estimated Rs200 crore.
The 250-bed facility is expected to be completed by March 2009 and will provide services in speciality areas such as cardiac care, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, neurosciences, renal care, and mother and childcare.
The company aims to part-finance this project from the funds that it will raise from its forthcoming initial public offering (IPO). The largest portion of funds raised will be used to retire debt. The company had a debt of Rs676.8 crore on its books as on 31 December 2006.
Fortis is entering the capital market with an IPO of about 4.6 crore equity shares of Rs10 each. The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs92 and Rs110 per equity share. The issue opens for subscription on 16 April and closes on 20 April 2007.
The company has already raised Rs154 crore through pre-IPO allotments of 1.1 crore equity shares earlier this year. Fortis also proposes to allot 2.4 lakh equity shares to eligible employees.
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