After losing Fortis Bid, Manipal vyes to buy AMRI for upto Rs 1,000 crore

Mumbai: After losing the battle from IHH healthcare for Fortis Healthcare, Manipal Hospitals is now vying for AMRI Hospitals Ltd (Advanced Medical Research Institute) in Kolkata.

ET recently reported that Manipal Hospitals has revived talks with FMCG major Emami Group to acquire its AMRI Hospitals Ltd. Emami is looking for a valuation of Rs 800-1,000 crore for the hospital chain.

In AMRI, Emami holds about 98 percent stake while the remaining 2 percent is held by West Bengal government. AMRI Hospitals has about 1,000 beds under five hospitals, four in Kolkata and one in Bhubaneswar.

An Emami spokesperson told ET that the group does not have any plans to sell its hospital business.

Over the past few years, AMRI has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In 2011, a major fire broke out in AMRI Hospital in Dhakuria in which 93 peoples were dead and these led the promoters to face a major setback and the directors are facing trial for culpable homicide leaving the hospital shut for two years.

In 2013, the Supreme Court ordered AMRI Hospitals and three of its doctors to pay Rs 5.96 crore along with interest as compensation to a non-resident Indian doctor in a case of medical negligence.

In 2014, S K Todi-led Shrachi Group sold its 32% stake in AMRI Hospitals to Emami after the mounting losses.

It has been reported that Manipal Hospitals is also eyeing Hyderabad based hospital chain Star Hospitals.

Read also: IHH Healthcare: Meet the Highest Bidder of Fortis Healthcare

The due diligence process is currently on valuing the Hyderabad-headquartered healthcare services provider at about Rs 500 crore reports ET.

Emami was founded by RS Agarwal and RS Goenka families in 1974 and entered healthcare sector in 1999 by joining hands with Shrawan Kumar Todi of Shrachi Group, a Kolkata-based real estate developer.