Max India Spins Off Arm

Max Healthcare, a division of Max India Ltd, has been recast as a separate company. The new company, fully owned by Max India, will be called Max Healthcare Institute Ltd and will be headquartered in Delhi.

The decision to spin off the division into a separate company, fully-owned by Max India, was taken at a meeting of the board of directors of Max India on April 21, 2002.

Analjit Singh, chairman of Max India, will be the CEO of the new company, while Raj Nakra will be the chief operating officer (COO).

"As Max Healthcare grows and expands, it is ready to take on challenges as an independent company," Analjit Singh said.

"This will give the healthcare business greater flexibility in inviting investors and alliance partners," he added.

According to company sources, more than Rs 125 crore has been invested in Max Healthcare so far. The company is looking at approaching the market for funding, and is likely to follow the debt financing route.

With a targeted investment of more than Rs 450 crore, Max Healthcare, which began operations last year, intends to offer three levels of clinical service -- primary, secondary and tertiary.

It also plans to set up two hospitals by 2005. The company already owns two Max Medcentres in Delhi. The third one at Noida is likely to become operational soon.

Max Healthcare has also set up two Dr Max clinics in South Delhi, and has entered into a technical collaboration with Harvard International Inc.

Other equity sharing joint ventures of Max India are Max New York Life, Comsat Max, Avnet Max and Max GB.

Max Ateev, Max Pharma and Max Specialty Products are the other divisions of the company.