Athira Sethu
Kochi, 8 December 2024
Major players in the Indian healthcare sector are expanding and consolidating aggressively as they seek to strengthen their presence. Quality Care and KIMS currently operate over 5,000 hospital beds combined. In comparison, Aster DM Healthcare operated 4,869 beds as of June 2024. Putting these together totals approximately 9,869 beds.
A Kotak Institutional Equities report from August 1 highlights Aster DM’s ambitions growth plans. The group plans to increase its bed capacity 35% by adding a total of about 1,700 beds between FY24-FY27. This incremental growth is expected to contribute to a strong annual sales CAGR of 19% while EBITDA is going to grow at a rate of 25% during that period.
Indian healthcare has also seen huge investments and acquisitions. For example, Temasek Holdings has a majority stake in Manipal Hospitals. Other private equity firms have invested heavily in hospital chains that have further led to consolidation in the industry.
OTPP, a pension fund, acquired a majority stake in Pune-based Sahyadri Hospitals during 2022. Then, global investment firm KKR, which had just exited Max Healthcare with major returns, is now picking up Baby Memorial Hospital from Kerala.
These are the result of growing demand for India’s healthcare services, because companies are expanding their structures and investors are capitalizing in the sector.
