Fortis promoters to launch healthcare fund

Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh, promoters of hospital chain Fortis Healthcare and financial services firm Religare, are set to launch a health care-focussed private equity fund making them the second highprofile entrepreneurs to launch such a fund after Piramal Enterprises' Ajay Piramal.

While the corpus for Piramal's healthcare fund is Rs 500 crore, Fortis promoters say their plans are at a formative stage and hence, details cannot be shared. When asked about plans to launch a healthcare fund, Fortis Healthcare executive chairman Malvinder Singh said, "We are trying to put it together, but that will be run by the financial services team, not the healthcare business." About the corpus of the fund he said, "Since this is at a preliminary stage, we will not be able to share the details."

In 2008, the Singh brothers sold family silver Ranbaxy Laboratories to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo offloading their entire 34.8-per cent stake in the company in a deal valued at $4.6 billion. Following the deal, the brothers are focussing on Fortis and Religare as the twin business areas for the future. "The question is if we have been able to turn Ranbaxy into a global player, why not do it again through Fortis or Religare?" Singh said.

Currently, Fortis has assets in 11 countries, including India, with 76 hospitals and over 12,000 beds. The company will register close to Rs 6,000 crore in turnover by March 2013, Singh added. "In everything we have done, we have aspired to be the leader," he said underlining the commitment of the brothers to the business.

Healthcare has been an attractive sector for PE investment in India on rising disease awareness, higher disposable incomes and increasing penetration of health care insurance schemes.

India Venture Advisors, a PE fund launched by billionaire Ajay Piramal along with former State Bank of India chairman AK Purwar, is raising a Rs 500-crore fund to invest in Indian healthcare firms.

Courtesy: Mail Today