New Delhi: The founder of Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Narendra Pandey, is looking to buy back 49% stake held by private equity investors in the Faridabad-based hospital, people aware of the development said.
Pandey is in talks with credit arms of Avendus, KKR and Kotak among others to raise about ₹500 crore to finance the proposed buyout of stakes held by British International Investment (BII) and Orbimed, they said.
The PE investors have invested in Blue Sapphire Healthcare, the holding company of the 450-bed hospital that Pandey, a Padma Shri awardee and thoracic surgeon, founded 15 years ago.
AIMS is estimated to be valued at ₹1,000-₹1,200 crore, people cited above said. Pandey, BII and Orbimed did not respond to ET’s emailed queries until press time on Sunday. Avendus, Kotak and KKR did not comment.
Alvarez and Marsal are said to be advising Pandey on the fund raise.
Deal activity in the healthcare delivery sector has been hectic and valuations have been aggressive, with individual hospitals and smaller chains often valued at a multiple of 25-30 times their earnings. In this scenario, the founder of AIMS wants to hold on to the company, one of the people cited earlier said.
Manipal Hospitals bought mid-sized hospital chain Sahyadri Hospitals in Maharashtra earlier this year for ₹6,400 crore. More recently, KKR paid ₹2,000 crore to acquire Kerala-based standalone paediatric hospital Baby Memorial Hospital.
BII and Orbimed attempted to sell their holdings in AIMS to other private equity firms through a secondary sale last year. It did not get traction, possibly because the valuation demand was felt to be high, people cited above said.
