Shetty says no to Cayman medical college
By K. Giriprakash From Hindu Business Line
BANGALORE: Narayana Health to raise up to $40 million
One of the top five hospital chains in the country Narayana Health will tap PE funds to raise up to $40 million for its expansion activities.
Devi Prasad Shetty, founder and chairman of Narayana Health, told Business Line that the hospital group plans to expand to other countries as well as in the west and northern part of India.
GOING GLOBAL
“We have global ambitions. We are starting a hospital in Cayman Islands (in Caribbean Sea). Any country which produces the largest number of medical specialists is going to dominate the world,” he said.
He, however, said there are no plans to set up a medical college because of the stiff regulations laid down by the government. He said his group’s focus is on providing medical care at low cost.
BUSINESS MODEL
Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, the group CEO of Narayana Health, said the group’s business model is based on a scale of operations. It plans to add 1,000 more beds this fiscal year and by 2017, the number is expected to grow to between 12,000 beds and 15,000 beds from the current level of 6,900 beds.
He said the group plans to expand to tier II and III towns in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and also set up hospitals in some of the cities in Uttar Pradesh such as Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow.
Raghuvanshi said it costs about Rs 35-40 lakh per bed in conventional hospitals such as those in Bangalore and in tier II cities like Mysore, it costs about Rs 10 lakh per bed.
Narayana Health is looking at raising up to $40 million to fund its expansion either from its existing PE funds, JP Morgan and Pinebridge though no firm decision has been taken yet. Both JP Morgan and Pinebridge have invested $100 million for a 23 per cent stake in 2008.
“We have not decided whether they will come in. But it will certainly be a mix of equity, debt and internal accruals,” he said.
He, however, ruled out any plans to go public and any decision on it will be a collective call consisting of all the stakeholders.
PHOTO: Devi Prasad Shetty Business Line
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Photos: Health City Cayman Islands under construction
See related story in iNews Cayman “Health City Cayman Islands commences construction” published April 21 2013 at: http://www.ieyenews.com/2013/04/health-city-cayman-islands-commences-construction/
