Manipal Health Enterprises has acquired an 84% stake in FMCG-to-realty conglomerate Emami Group’s AMRI Hospitals Kolkata for around ₹2,300 crore, media reports said. As part of the deal, Manipal will pick up an equity stake as well as a portion of AMRI’s debt.
Aditya Agarwal and Manish Goenka, directors, Emami Group, said that to focus on its core businesses, they have divested its majority stake in AMRI Hospitals. “It is a significant step in Emami Group’s stated objective. We will, however, continue as an investor in AMRI Hospitals with a 15% stake. The government of West Bengal will have around 1% stake in AMRI Hospitals.”
The acquisition, announced by the companies last week, comes after an 18-month negotiation process. During this period, Manipal had moved the Delhi high court (HC) to prevent Emami from selling it to any other entity.
The takeover makes the Manipal Group one of the largest hospital chains in India. It adds more than 5,000 healthcare professionals to its network, and 1,200 more beds, taking the total number to nearly 9,500 beds, media reports said. It has 33 hospitals across 17 cities after the deal.
Manipal said the acquisition will help expand its presence in eastern India, and address the growing demand for tertiary and quaternary care in the region.
AMRI has hospitals in Dhakuria, Mukundapur and Salt Lake (all in Kolkata) and another in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
“This acquisition is in sync with our objective to further strengthen our presence and serve patients in eastern India—an underserved area when it comes to healthcare,” Ranjan Pai, founder, Manipal Hospitals, said. “With this addition, Manipal Hospitals would now serve patients in its 17th city in Bhubaneswar,” he added.
The transaction is another sign that the hospitals segment has been consolidating in recent times, with the help of investor backing. In April, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings acquired a 41% stake in Manipal Health Enterprises for approximately $2 billion.
