Apollo, Trivitron JV to raise Rs 60 cr from PE

Alliance Medicorp, a joint venture between Apollo Hospitals and Chennai-based medical technology company Trivitron Healthcare Pvt Ltd, is planning to raise around Rs 60 crore from private equity (PE) investors to fund its expansion plans.

Post-dilution, Apollo Hospitals would have around 51 per cent stake, Trivitron Healthcare would hold around 30-35 per cent stake and the rest would be with the investors, according to G S K Velu, chairman, founder and managing director of Trivitron Healthcare.

Currently, Apollo Hospitals holds 51 per cent in the JV and Trivitron holds 49 per cent. The dental care chain Alliance Medicorp, currently has around 16 centers named as Apollo Dental Centers, spread over four cities in the country. The company is planning to set up around 100 centres across the country in near future.

Trivitron Healthcare, which is into manufacturing of medical technology products including imaging products, has recently announced a strategic investment in Mumbai-based Kiran Medical Systems Ltd, which manufactures image enhancement accessories and radiation protection products. The move is aimed at strengthening its operations in the medical imaging segment.

The strategic investment is a combination of cash and stock swap, and the agreement includes options for Trivitron to increase its shareholding over the next few years.

Recently, Trivitron's group firm Medfort Hospitals has announced merger with Maxivision Eye Hospitals, a Hyderabad-based eye-care chain specialising in refractive treatment. In November last year, Medfort had attracted an investment of Rs 60 crore from TVS Capital Funds and ePlanet Ventures.

Another Rs 10 crore was invested by the promoter Dr Velu, who is also the founder of medical equipment company Trivitron. Medfort is looking at another round of investment of Rs 20-30 crore – which will be a combination of funding from the same investors and promoter money.

The total capital base of Rs 100 crore will be utilised for Medforts expansion plan for the next two years. Diabetes and eye-care centres will come up in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Medfort is also setting up a centre in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Plans are also on to expand into Africa, South Asia and South East Asia.