Manipal-TPG exclusive agreement period expires; KKR initiates bid for Medanta: Report

Mumbai: Joining the fray to get a stake in the Gurugram based Medanta Medicity , US based investor firm KKR recent made a bid

According to a recent media report, KKR has entered the race as the exclusive agreement period between Trehan's Medanta and Manipal Hospital backed by investors TPG Capital and Temasek has expired.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that after losing out on the Fortis deal, the Manipal Group backed by TPG had made moves toward acquiring Medanta hospitals by entering into exclusive negotiations with founder Dr Naresh Trehan and other investors.

The Manipal Hospital backed up by its investors TPG Capital and Temasek Holding was expected to clinch the deal at a valuation of Rs 5800-6000 crore.

Also Read: TPG-Manipal enter into Exclusive talks to Acquire Medanta

Medanta, founded in 2009, operates super speciality hospitals and clinics across cities including Gurgaon, Lucknow, Indore, Ranchi and Sri Ganganagar. Founded by renowned cardiac surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan, Trehan and his family, along with co-founder Sunil Sachdeva own 55% of the share. US-based private equity fund Carlyle Group owns 27% in Medanta, while Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte holds a share of 18%.

Currently, it is learnt that KKR has launched a bid for Medanta as the exclusivity period agreement between Manipal-TPG and Medanta expired. The KKR bid will be routed via its healthcare platform Radiant Life Care. Radiant is promoted by investor cum entrepreneur Abhay Soi, is also in the midst of buying out Max hospitals in Delhi. Radiant also operates BL Kapoor and Nanavati hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai respectively.

KKR swooped down with a late bid after Manipal's negotiations ran into valuation differences.

"The ebitda (or operating profit) of the company is not what was expected, which has created a valuation mismatch," sources told TOI.

This comes even as the stock market valuation multiples for the healthcare services industry declined significantly, due to the government's move to improve price regulations on certain procedures and implants.

Prior to this, KKR, one of the world's largest alternate asset managers had opted to infuse Rs 200 to 300 crore in Kerala-based Baby Memorial Hospital.

Also Read: KKR to infuse up to Rs 300 crore in Baby Memorial Hospital in Kerala