Apollo Hospitals to raise $135 m via GDR

Apollo Hospitals plans to raise $135 million (about Rs 590 crore) through global depository receipts (GDRs) that may be listed either on the London or Luxemburg exchange.

The capital is being raised to upgrade existing facilities and fund acquisitions in outsourcing and healthcare sectors.

Along with the issue of GDRs, the promoters would be allotted equity warrants of 2.5 per cent of the existing capital. The warrants would allow the promoters to retain their stake at the current level of 31.83 per cent, said Suneeta Reddy, director, finance.

The GDR has been triggered by the need to fund the company's strategy to consolidate existing operations and look at acquisitions, Reddy added.

As part of its expansion plan, Apollo is to open centres in relatively smaller towns such as Salem and Nasik. The smaller centres would fit in to the company's hub-and-spoke model, wherein a tertiary care centre is loosely linked to centres of lesser sophistication.

Apollo also plans to acquire companies in both BPO and healthcare areas if the opportunity comes along. The group has a BPO operation that concentrates on business that initially comes from the healthcare sector.

Apollo's $ 135 million GDR issue will be split in to two parts. About $ 75 million would be issue of fresh capital, while $ 65 million would be a sponsored issue.

In the sponsored issue existing shareholders can offload their shares.