TPG healthcare platform acquires India hospital chain

The transaction includes a mix of primary and secondary shares. Previous backers in AINU include HealthQuad, a VC affiliate of healthcare specialist Quadria Capital, which invested an undisclosed sum in early 2019, according to AVCJ Research.

AHH was aiming to acquire a 70% stake in AINU as of June, according to The Economic Times. It now has backed four single-speciality hospitals in India, including Motherhood Hospitals, Nova IVF Fertility, and Cancer Treatment Services International (CTSI).

The platform acquired Motherhood in 2016 for USD 33m and Nova IVF for an undisclosed sum in 2019. It took a 65% stake in in CTSI in 2016 and exited it to US radiology company Varian Medical Systems for USD 283m in 2019.

AHH says it is now the largest single-speciality hospital platform in the subcontinent. It highlights increasing investor confidence in specialised healthcare services in India amidst a push to ramp up public insurance penetration, some de-regulation, and generally rising affluence.

Separate from AHH, TPG was active in the single-speciality theme as recently as last month, when it backed a USD 80m expansion drive by Dr Agarawl’s Eye Hospital alongside fellow existing investor Temasek Holdings.

Eyecare has proven a particularly attractive segment for investors due to advantages in quick patient turnaround times, relatively inexpensive equipment, and less prohibitive real estate requirements. Oncology, fertility, paediatrics, and dentistry have also seen significant traction. Expansion into lower-tier cities is a uniting strategy.

Founded in 2013, AINU claims to be India’s largest single-speciality hospital network with seven hospitals and 500 beds across four cities. It has treated more than 400,000 patients and completed some 50,000 procedures.

The company is recognised as a leader in robotic urology surgery, having completed more than 1,000 surgeries using robotics. In nephrology, more than 200,000 dialysis and 300 kidney transplants have been performed.

There were about 1.9bn nephrology and urology procedures in India in 2022, a figure that is projected to grow at 8%-9% a year for the next five years, according to AHH. The investor added that a robust pipeline of qualified urology and nephrology graduates would support AINU’s ambitions to scale it new tier-one and tier-two cities.

“Indians have a high incidence of kidney stones, and non-cancerous prostate enlargement issues. Increasingly we have observed a rise in the incidence of urological cancer in the last decade. Cancer of the prostate and bladder are becoming more common,” C Mallikarjun, chief consultant urologist and a managing director at AINU, said in a statement.

“Broadly we see a higher incidence of uro-oncology, uro-gynaecology and paediatric urology in the years ahead. We believe AHH has the legacy and is the right partner for the next phase of growth of our enterprise.”

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Buyouts
• Healthcare
• India
• TPG Capital
• GIC Private