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Fortis Healthcare opens hospital in Bangalore
Looking at acquisitions to expand network
No impact of recession in healthcare sector
EXPANDS FOOTPRINT: Shivinder Mohan Singh (left), Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare, and Bhavdeep Singh, CEO, unveiling the new logo at a press conference in Bangalore on Tuesday.
BANGALORE: The Fortis Healthcare group, which is awaiting SEBI approval for a Rs. 1,000-crore rights issue, is actively looking at more acquisitions, Managing Director Shivinder Mohan Singh said here on Tuesday.
Announcing the launch of Fortis Hospital Seshadripuram (earlier Apollo RM Hospital) at a press meet, Mr. Singh said “We plan to have a cluster of hospitals in Bangalore. Fortis has now a 66-per cent stake in the Bangalore hospital. The group will look at acquisitions, private-public partnerships and greenfield projects to expand the existing 27 hospital network.” Last year, Fortis acquired 48.83 per cent interest in Malar Hospital, Chennai.
Mr. Singh said many acquisitions could be through investing in hospitals set up by industrial groups for whom healthcare was not a core business. “These are cases of collateral damage, where the parent group would rather sell their hospital and invest the money in their core business.” Escorts in Delhi was a case in point. Many Fortis hospitals were functioning already as centres of excellence in specialities like cardiac care and over the next year-and-a half, the group would promote centres in gastro enteritis and cancer care, Mr. Singh said. Not all Fortis hospitals were in the metros and some were in small cities like Jaipur and Faridabad. While recession had hit the healthcare sector in the U.S., the situation was different in India. “There is an over supply of hospital beds in the U.S. while the opposite is the case in India,” he explained. Fortis had a 60-per cent CAGR last year and could maintain its growth, he added.
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