Fresenius acquires 85% stake in Sandor Nephro Services

Global kidney therapy specialist Fresenius Medical Care has acquired 85 per cent stake in Sandor Nephro Services, which runs dialysis centres under the brand Sparsh, for an undisclosed amount as it aims to become a leading player in the vertical in India.
The company also plans to invest around Rs 150 crore over a period of 2-3 years to establish 200 dialysis centres across the country.
Established in 2011, Sandor Nephro Services currently operates around 55 dialysis centres while Fresenius Medical Care runs three such centres across the country.
"With this acquisition we are opening a new chapter for our dialysis business in India. We have been in India for more than 15 years primarily with our product portfolio and we are now taking the next important step," Fresenius Medical Care Senior Vice President -Central Asia Pacific Jan Walter told reporters here.

This is a unique opportunity to immediately become one of the major players in the dialysis service market, he added.
The new entity will operate under the 'Nephrocare' brand.

As part of the exercise some 300 employees of Sandor will join Fresenius.
Fresenius Medical Care India Managing Director Punit Kohli said the company is targeting to become the largest pan India dialysis provider through continuous expansion in tier II and tier III regions.
"Looking at the disease burden in the country, we would like to have around 200 centres in the country over the next few years. Also we would invest in the range of around Rs 150 crore over a staggered manner in the country on various activities including expansion in smaller towns and cities," Kohli said.

The company may also look at local manufacturing of products in India at a later stage, he added.
In India there are around 10 lakh people suffering from chronic kidney diseases who may require dialysis services.