Apollo promoters to infuse Rs 250 cr

The Promoters of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd (AHEL) would infuse Rs 250 crore to support the hospital's proposed Rs 1,500 crore expansion.

Speaking after signing an MoU with Apollo Endosurgery in Austin, Texas (USA) & Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Beth Israel Medical Centre (New York) Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals group, said “We (promoters) will be infusing around Rs 250 crore in the next one year to support AHEL's expansion plan.”

According to hospital's presentation to the investor, by 2014, Apollo is planning to invest Rs 1,290 crore to add 2,418beds across the metros, large cities and semi-urban and rural ares. Of the total investment, AHEL would infuse around Rs 1,100 crore.

It may be noted the hospital has raised around Rs 350 crore through qualified institutional placements (QIP), which is the first tranche of its Rs 900 crore QIP plan. The rest will be invested through debt and internal accruals, said Reddy.

Currently, AHEL is one of the Asia's largest network with 5,842 owned and 2,875 managed basis across 37 owned and 17 managed hospitals as on March 31, 2011.

On the company's plan for its BPO arm 'Apollo Health Street', Reddy said it was planning to rope in a partner with competence in the health care technology domain.

Reddy, who claimed Apollo Health Street is the third largest BPO firm, said, “So far, four companies have approached us, final call will be taken in the coming weeks.” He declined to reveal the names of the companies.

Apollo Health Street is an associate company of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, which acquired it from US-based BPO Zavata in 2005 for $170 million. AHEL and the promoter's family holds 49 per cent and five per cent respectively. The other investors include private equity funds including One Equity Partners and Temasek Holdings.

The BPO arm operates in 13 locations, including four offices in India, with 3,000 people in India and 1,000 in United States. “It is profit making firm,” said Reddy. AHEL is also planning to set up a medical college in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs 100 crore, said Reddy.