TPG to sell Cancer Treatment Services to US firm Varian for $283 mn

Cancer Treatment Services International owns and operates a network of cancer treatment facilities under the brand American Oncology Institute across India and South Asia

TPG Growth, a private equity investing entity, has agreed to sell Cancer Treatment Services International (CTSI) to New York-listed Varian Medical Systems for $283 million, three years after buying the oncology chain. 

CTSI owns a network of cancer treatment facilities, under the American Oncology Institute brand, across India and South Asia, and AmPath, an integrated reference laboratory and pathology services provider in India.

CTSI is a part of Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH), a platform founded by TPG Growth in 2017. The transaction is expected to close in two weeks, subject to the customary conditions. CTSI employs around 1,500 people in India and the US. The sale marks the first exit in AHH.

“We invested in CTSI in 2016, with the belief that the company was in a strong position to address a substantial and growing need for quality cancer care in India. Today, CTSI is one of the largest and leading providers of high-quality oncology services across the country and broader South Asia,” said Matthew Hobart, partner at TPG Growth.

When CTSI was first acquired by TPG Growth, it operated one facility in Hyderabad. In three years, it has grown to a network of 11 cancer hospitals, with a pipeline of six more under execution.

TPG has invested $14 billion of equity in the sector. A little more than 20 per cent or about $3 billion of the equity has been invested outside the US, in health care delivery networks. 

These include Parkway Holdings (Singapore), Healthscope (Australia), Manipal Health (India), Asiri Health (Sri Lanka), and United Family Healthcare (China).

“The genesis of AHH was to build single-speciality health care delivery businesses. Majority positions in these early-stage entities give our team the opportunity to mould the future of these companies,” said Vishal Bali, chief executive. “Leveraging TPG’s global health care franchise, we worked together to grow CTSI, from sourcing to exit.”

Recently, AHH acquired Nova Fertility and its network of 20 in-vitro fertilisation centres. 

When combined with AHH’s existing network of 12 women and children hospitals under the Motherhood brand, it will be India’s largest mother and child-focused health care platform.