IFC invests $67 million in Apollo Health and Lifestyle Ltd

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has announced investment of $67 million in Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL), the small-format healthcare facilities business of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited.

IFC is investing half for its own account and half will come from the IFC Emerging Asia Fund, an investment fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company. AHLL will use IFC's equity investment to open nearly 1,000 medical facilities, laboratories and collection centers. The investment will create over 4,000 new jobs across India for healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and technicians, announced the investment firm.

The investment in Apollo is part of an effort to address issues of access, quality, and affordability across the country, said Henrik Elschner Pedersen, IFC Senior Manager - Consumer and Social Services - Asia.

"Since 2005, IFC has made multiple rounds of debt and equity investments in Apollo Hospitals to help the company with its expansion plans and increase access to affordable healthcare in the country," said Pedersen.

IFC has invested around Rs 450 crore for a stake of around 29 per cent in AHLL, said Sangita Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. The investment will help the company to expand its reach to 20 million patients each year by 2020.

It curently has eight businesses - multi-speciality clinics (Apollo Clinics), Diabetes Clinics (Apollo Sugar), Diagnostics (Apollo Diagnostics), Dental Centres (Apollo White), Dialysis, Women and Children Hospitals (Apollo Cradle), Fertility centres (Apollo Fertility) and Surgical Centres (Apollo Spectra), across India, with a presence in 17 states and over 400 customer touch points.

The funding will be used to increase network of clinics, cradle and diagnostics centres across the country, said AHEL.

"The investment will help us meet the ever-increasing demand for quality healthcare in the country," said Neeraj Garg, CEO of Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited.

Since 2005, IFC has made multiple rounds of debt and equity investments in Apollo Hospitals to help the company with its expansion plans.

AHLL runs a network of multispecialty clinics including diagnostic centers, maternity clinics, planned surgery formats, and diabetes management clinics.

IFC has a healthcare portfolio of about $1.7 billion. In India, IFC's healthcare investments are over $477 million, representing 28% of its global healthcare portfolio including investments in Max Healthcare, NephroPlus, Eye-Q Vision, and Portea. IFC has also supported state governments by providing advisory services and bringing reliable private players to extend affordable, quality medical care in India.

It added that India is IFC's top country exposure, globally and has a committed portfolio of over $5 billion as of June 30, 2016. In FY16, it has committed $1.1 billion in new investments. It is also focused on boosting financing in infrastructure and logistics, promoting financial inclusion, helping create conditions to attract increased private capital, and helping structure public-private partnerships, said the company.