Fortis sells Vadapalani hospital to Sri Kauvery for Rs 152 crore

New Delhi: Fortis Healthcare Ltd on Thursday said it will sell its hospital business operations at Vadapalani, Chennai, to Sri Kauvery Medical Care (India) Ltd for Rs 152 crore.

The company has signed definitive agreements with Sri Kauvery Medical Care (India) Ltd for the sale, Fortis Healthcare said in a statement. "The transaction will be an all-cash deal and is estimated to be consummated by the end of July 2023, subject to certain conditions as stipulated in the definitive agreements," it added.

Commissioned in October 2020, the Vadapalani facility at Arcot Road is on leased premises with 110 operational beds with a potential to scale up to about 200 beds, the company said. "The divestment of Arcot Road hospital business operations is in line with our stated intent of optimizing our hospital assets keeping in mind our key markets and regions," Fortis Healthcare Managing Director & CEO Ashustosh Raghuvanshi said. He further said, "This also underpins our focus on improving our overall profitability and margins in the segment, allowing us to re-allocate capital in our key clusters. Fortis said the sale is part of its ongoing portfolio rationalisation strategy in order to focus on deepening its presence in select geographic clusters where it has a sizeable presence. Kauvery Group of Hospitals Founder & Executive Chairman S Chandrakumar said, "We are focused on our growth plan to become a leading and trusted healthcare provider in South India. With this acquisition, we will have over 750 beds in Chennai. Kauvery Group has facilities of over 500 beds at Alwarpet and Radial Road, the statement said. Saraf and Partners, Law Offices acted as legal advisors and Veda Corporate Advisors as financial advisors for Fortis in the transaction, while for Kauvery, Khaitan & Co and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co acted as legal advisors.