Investors in UAE hospital chain Aster eye $300 mln India stake sale-sources

Max Healthcare Institute

26/05/2023 10:34

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      Aster investors eye selling 30% stake in India biz
    

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      Company has appointed investment bank Moelis for the deal
    

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      Talks come as investors attracted by India healthcare
space
    

  
    By M. Sriram
       MUMBAI, May 26 (Reuters) - Investors in Aster DM
Healthcare  ATRD.NS  are in talks to sell a 30% stake in the
company's India business for about $300 million, two sources
with direct knowledge said, the latest potential deal in India's
booming healthcare sector.
    UAE-based and Mumbai-listed Aster runs 32 hospitals, 127
clinics and 521 pharmacies in India and the United Arab
Emirates. The current talks are related to the India business
and come just as Aster tries to demerge its Gulf business and
sell a majority stake in that, Reuters reported last month.  
    Aster and its advisors have reached out to private equity
giant KKR & Co Inc  KKR.N  and Max Healthcare Institute
 MAXE.NS  - one of India's largest hospital chains - to hold
preliminary talks to take up the investors' stake, the sources
said.
    Aster's investors considering the sale are Olympus Capital,
which has a 19% stake in the company, and Mauritius-based
investment firm Rimco, which holds an 12% stake.
    Aster has appointed New York-based investment bank Moelis &
Company to manage the deal, said the two sources, who declined
to be named as the discussions are private.
    Spokespersons for KKR and Olympus declined to comment, while
Aster, Rimco, Moelis and Max did not respond to Reuters queries.

 (Reporting by M. Sriram; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Conor
Humphries)
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