o3 Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to IndiaRF for acquiring a majority stake in Ivy Health and Lifesciences Pvt Ltd (“Ivy Hospitals”)

India Resurgence Fund (IndiaRF) is a leading India-focused investment platform, sponsored by Piramal Enterprises Limited and Bain Capital Credit. It invests capital from its $629mn maiden fund along with its co-investors, which seeks to take control positions in high potential assets and provide requisite operational support for helping them achieve transformational growth. IndiaRF has invested in select sectors which offer strong growth prospects linked to consumption and infrastructure needs of India, with healthcare being a critical element in this mix.

Ivy Health and Lifesciences Pvt Ltd, which conducts business under the name of Ivy Hospitals, was founded by Mr. Gurtej Singh and Dr. Kanwaldeep Kaur in 2008. Since then, the group has grown to become the largest corporate chain of hospitals based in Punjab and runs 5 NABH-certified facilities viz Mohali, Amritsar, Khanna, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr. These facilities have a combined capacity of nearly 800 beds and offer comprehensive care across specialties with a focus on cardiology, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, mother & childcare and urology. The hospitals treat more than 300,000 patients a year and is a beneficiary to a strong drainage coming from states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu. The Company has been backed by marquee names like DEG and LIC in the past who have helped it scale up within the Punjab region.

This transaction, being amongst the largest buyout deals in north India hospitals segment, holds significance in Ivy Hospitals’ next phase of growth as it moves towards being a larger north India chain. This will involve augmentation of capacities in Tier 2 & 3 cities of Punjab, along with expansion via inorganic means in adjacent geographies.

Gurtej Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of Ivy Hospitals said, “What started as a vision to make quality healthcare, affordable and accessible in Punjab turned to a reality with Ivy becoming the largest healthcare group in the State of Punjab with 3000+ healthcare professionals tirelessly servicing the patients from Punjab and beyond. We were the initial movers in this space who believed in the vast untapped potential for quality healthcare in the region, and I am excited to embark on this new journey with IndiaRF, with a common shared vision for the future. The business will surely benefit from IndiaRF’s rich experience in transforming companies across various sectors including in the consumer space in India.”

Shantanu Nalavadi, Managing Director of IndiaRF said “Post Covid, there’s significant emphasis on providing localised healthcare in the form of multi-speciality regional hospital networks. Increased insurance penetration has further augmented this shift as patients are increasingly looking for high quality healthcare closer to home. Consequently, these networks are also witnessing significant investor interest. Ivy clearly stands out as truly aligned with this theme. Ivy has demonstrated its prowess as a regional healthcare provider catering to all segments, by providing quality medical services at affordable prices. We are excited to invest in Ivy and are committed to accelerate its growth with continued focus on delivering quality patient care.”

This marks o3 Capital's 14th deal closure in the Healthcare & Lifesciences space in the last 24 months. The deal reiterates o3 Capital’s strong credentials in the Healthcare and Lifesciences segment (55 deal closures till date) and our ability to consummate large deals in multi-specialty segment within the healthcare space.