Indian regulator approves Blackstone's purchase of Care Hospitals
The Blackstone Group’s proposed acquisition of India-based hospital chain Care Hospitals from TPG’s The Rise Fund has won approval from the national competition regulator.
Local media reported in May that Blackstone had agreed to pay about USD 800m for a 70% stake in the business. Rival hospital operator Max Healthcare Institute sought to block the deal, claiming a violation of its own period of exclusivity to negotiate an acquisition of Care. An Indian court rejected the petition.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in a statement that it had approved the purchase of a 72.49% stake by a Blackstone entity under the firm’s second pan-Asian fund. That vehicle closed at the hard cap of USD 6.4bn in December 2021.
Care is a multi-speciality chain comprising 16 hospitals and one clinic spread across seven cities and with a capacity of around 2,400 beds. It is part of Evercare, a South Asia and Africa-focused healthcare delivery platform that has 30 hospitals, 16 clinics, and 82 diagnostic centres.
The Rise Fund assumed responsibility for the platform after TPG Growth was hired as a replacement GP for The Evercare Health Fund, a USD 1bn vehicle previously run by The Abraaj Group. Abraaj bought Care from Advent International in 2016, reportedly paying INR 17bn (then USD 255m) for a 72% stake. At the time, Care was India’s fifth-largest healthcare provider.
Private equity investment in Indian healthcare services (including medical devices but excluding pharma) cracked USD 1bn for the first time in 2020 and hasn’t looked back – the pandemic having amplified longstanding themes around economic uplift and policy reform. Investment crossed USD 1.7bn in both 2021 and 2022 and it passed USD 3.1bn in the first seven months of 2023.
The standout deal saw India’s National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and TPG Capital sell their stakes in Manipal Health Enterprises to Temasek Holdings for around USD 1.9bn (though TPG also committed new capital from a later fund).
Others include BPEA EQT acquiring a controlling stake in Indira IVF at a valuation of USD 1bn – facilitating an exit for TA Associates – and Quadria Capital investing USD 155m in Maxivision Eye Hospital.
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