New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS): Private equity funds managed by Blackstone have acquired a majority shareholding in CARE Hospitals from Evercare, a platform of TPG RISE funds. In addition, CARE Hospitals has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in KIMSHEALTH.

The addition of KIMSHEALTH to the CARE Hospitals network creates one of India’s largest hospital platforms with 23 facilities across 11 cities in India, creating a leadership position in under-penetrated, emerging cities that have strong potential for growth. The combined platform will have more than 4,000 beds.

TPG, whose shareholding in CARE Hospitals is held in its Evercare Health Fund, will retain a significant minority stake in the combined platform.

KIMSHEALTH will continue under the leadership of Dr M. I. Sahadulla in the next wave of growth of the platform.

KIMSHEALTH, operating under KIMS Healthcare Management Limited, is the biggest private healthcare organisation in Kerala.

CARE Hospitals Group is a multi-specialty healthcare company founded in 1997.

The network has its presence in Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Indore, Nagpur, Raipur and Visakhapatnam.

A leader in its markets, CARE is counted among the top 5 Pan-Indian hospital chains.

Ganesh Mani, Managing Director at Blackstone Private Equity, said: “We are pleased to make Blackstone’s first investment in India’s healthcare services sector and partner with TPG to create one of the largest healthcare platforms in India. CARE Hospitals and KIMSHEALTH are trusted brands in the Indian healthcare space with a reputation of prioritising patients and have a track record of excellence in medical ethics and clinical outcomes. We aim to build a patient centric hospital platform focused on high clinical care quality and top-notch service.”

“We are committed to being a long-term investor and business builder. We seek to grow the platform organically and through acquisitions. Life sciences is a key investment theme for Blackstone and we plan to bring in our global scale and operating expertise. We plan to invest in world-class physical and medical infrastructure, enhance the companies’ digital and technological capabilities, add higher end quaternary care specialties, and cultivate a clinician and employee culture focused organisation.”

Ankur Thadani, Partner at TPG, said: “We are excited about partnering with Blackstone to continue our efforts and journey in building CARE Hospitals Group into a leading, patient-centric healthcare delivery network across India and South Asia, focused on delivering clinical excellence. We believe there is significant potential in creating a market leading platform through both organic and partnership-driven consolidation efforts, which is evidenced in our proposed association with KIMSHEALTH.”

True North will sell its entire stake in KIMSHEALTH India as part of the transaction.

The combined platform will deliver advanced comprehensive care in more than 30 clinical specialties, including cardiac sciences, oncology, neurosciences, renal sciences, orthopedics, gastroenterology, and integrated organ transplant.