Narayana Hrudayalaya set for Rs 450 cr expansion

To expand in diagnostic, dental, skin care

Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH), the cardiac care healthcare company, is understood to be looking at a Rs 450 crore expansion which to expand its presence in allied health services sector. The company which recently entered the dental health, is stepping on the gas to expand its diagnostics presence and is set to enter the skin care sector.

NH recently announced that it plans to invest Rs 150 crore to open 300 dental clinics in India and abroad over the next three years. According to senior officials of NH, they will be looking at the same range of investment for diagnostics and skin care segments, taking the total investment to Rs 450 crore over the next three years.

Industry analysts detail that while the majority of this funding will be met through internal accruals and debt, NH may be looking at raising private equity at the SPV levels to fund this aggressive expansion. It is also understood that NH will be actively looking at the Malaysian market to further its network in South East Asia.

While NH will be taking on the likes of Religare, Metropolis in the diagnostics market, it will be competing with Marico’s Kaya Skin Clinic in the skin care segment. According to senior officials of the company, NH will try to capitalise on the virgin dental chain concept as 98 per cent of the dental segment is ‘dentist-entrepreneur-driven’. “Since dental health is of critical importance going by its impact on cardiac diseases and diabetes, there is a need to expand dedicated facilities in the country,” officials of NH detailed.

“The allied health services such as diagnostics and skin care is all about getting the branding right. It is pretty difficult to build a brand in the healthcare segment and we have, through our cardiac care built the franchise. It is only logical to expand in allied health services building on this platform,” said a senior official of NH.

NH, which reported a topline of close to Rs 600 crore, has presence in seven cities in India and is looking to expand to seven more cities over the next three years and plans to have as much as 30,000 beds in operation in another seven years time. NH during 2008 raised Rs 400 crore from AIG and JP Morgan by divesting 25 per cent stake and is understood to be looking at monetising its land bank to raise further resources.