Manipal Hospitals nears acquisition of Rs 1,400 crore stake in Medica Synergie: Sources

Bengaluru: Manipal Health Enterprises is set to surpass Apollo Hospitals to become the largest hospital chain in India as it inches closer to acquiring a substantial majority stake in Kolkata-based Medica Synergie Private Ltd, sources in knowledge of the matter told DH on Monday. 

Negotiations for the approximately Rs 1,400 crore deal are in advanced stages, one of the sources said on condition of anonymity, adding that Manipal is in fact preparing to go public with the announcement later this month.

Once executed, the deal with Medica Synergie will add around 1,200 beds to Manipal’s existing capacity of 9,500 beds, to exceed market leader Apollo Hospitals’ cumulative bed capacity of just over 10,000. Medica operates four hospitals in Eastern India across West Bengal and Jharkhand.

In April 2023, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings inked a pact to acquire a 41% stake in Manipal Health Enterprises, to take its overall shareholding to 59% when aggregated with the stake held by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sheares Healthcare Group. 

Sheares Healthcare holds a majority stake in Medica Synergie, which will be sold to Manipal as part of the said deal, as per a second source.

Manipal Health Enterprises currently operates 33 facilities across 17 cities. Meanwhile, Chennai-headquartered Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited runs a network of 71 hospitals. 

The two healthcare giants have been in a close competition since September, 2023, when a majority stake in Emami Group-led AMRI Hospitals for Rs 2,300 crore took the billionaire Dr Ranjan Pai-backed hospital chain’s cumulative bed capacity to 9,500. Apollo Hospitals, on the other hand, plans to add 2,000 beds during the next three years, per information available in the public domain. 

Manipal Hospitals did not respond to DH’s query requesting a comment.