Emami to buy out Shrachi's stake in AMRI

Shrachi group has 32% stake in the loss making hospital business and has decided to exit the business

The Emami group is hopeful of buying out S K Todi-led Shrachi group’s 32 per cent stake in loss-making AMRI Hospitals within a month, Emami’s joint chairman R S Agarwal said on Monday.

“It should happen within a month,” said Agarwal. He added the Shrachi group wants to exit because of the huge losses in the hospital business. E&Y has been appointed as a consultant for the deal, it is learnt. AMRI has been making losses especially after the fire tragedy in 2011, in which 91 people died.While there was already a buzz in the market that Todi was looking to exit the hospital business, Agarwal’s latest comments have confirmed the news. According to Agarwal, the turnaround for AMRI would take two or three years. Ravi Todi, director on the board of AMRI representing Shrachi group, is likely to resign once the details of the stake sale are finalised. Emami promoters have a 66 per cent stake in AMRI, while the West Bengal government holds a 1.9 per cent stake. The hospital, co-founded by industrialists R S Agarwal and R S Goenka, had booked a profit of Rs 12 crore on a turnover of Rs 187 crore in 2009-10.

AMRI had major expansion plans of about Rs 2,000 crore, which were put on hold after the fire accident. The group also had plans to set up seven hospitals across the east andnorth-east with an investment of about Rs 1,750 crore. Plus, it wasplanning to invest Rs 300 crore to add beds in the existing hospitals.