Fortis May negotiate fresh management control pacts

Fortis Healthcare Ltd, the forerunners to acquire the hospitals owned by the Wockhardt group, may explore the possibility of adding to its cumulative bed strength by negotiating fresh management control agreements with the hospitals currently managed by Wockhardt Hospitals.

While the Fortis-Wockhardt deal can see Fortis adding over 1,000 beds, individual negotiations — if successful — can help the Delhi-based healthcare chain double this number. Since the hospitals are owned by individual societies or groups, the negotiations will have to be independent of the Fortis-Wockhardt deal, it is learnt.

Fortis, which has over 3,300 beds across 28 hospitals it owns and manages, had announced growth plans to increase its bed size to 6,000 beds in 40 hospitals by 2012. The Wockhardt acquisition, once materialised will be the biggest of its kind for Fortis and the organised healthcare sector of the country.

Fortis is known to be following a three-pronged strategy — to build, acquire and manage — to achieve its goal of becoming the biggest healthcare player in the country. Apollo Hospitals group, the country’s biggest private healthcare provider, is currently way ahead of Fortis with over 7,000 beds. For Fortis, the Wockhardt acquisition can thus make a huge difference in bridging the gap.

Recently, Fortis had wrested management control from Apollo to run three hospitals — in Kota, Bangalore and Delhi. In all the three cases, the owners of the hospitals chose to embrace the Fortis brand after the end of their management contracts with Apollo, it is learnt.