General Atlantic set to acquire Amar Ujala's hospital chain Cygnus Healthcare
General Atlantic is set to acquire about 70% stake in Ujala Cygnus Healthcare Services, the Delhi based multi-specialty hospital chain owned by media group Amar Ujala, said multiple people aware of the development. The deal will value the chain at about Rs1600 crore.
GA will acquire about 51% stake held by existing investors — Eight Roads Ventures India, Evolvence India Fund and Somerset Indus Healthcare Fund.
Besides the secondary transaction, GA will also acquire a small minority stake from the promoters along with a primary stake, added sources.
The deal is in the documentation stage and will be signed in a couple of weeks, said sources. The investment banking arm of EY advises the stake sale.
Founded in 2011, the chain operates 19 hospitals across Tier-II and Tier-III cities in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi, and has over 1800 beds.
The hospital chain is expected to post a revenue of Rs600 with an EBITDA of about Rs120 crore in FY24, said sources.
In 2019, Leading media firm Amar Ujala Ltd had acquired a majority stake in Cygnus Medicare, which operated a chain of 10 super specialty hospitals, for around Rs 130 crore as part of its expansion plans in the healthcare segment.
Following the buyout, two of Ujala Healthcare hospitals were merged with Cygnus. Amar Ujala held a significant stake along with management control in the merged entity while the balance stake was held by Eight Roads Ventures, Somerset Indus, Evolvence India and previous promoters Dr Dinesh Batra and Dr Shuchin Bajaj.
The company’s future plans are to provide inclusive primary and preventive healthcare access across regions of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir, with an aim to establish 10
