Fortis Healthcare to acquire 228 bed hospital in Punjab for Rs 462 crore

Move aims to strengthen chain's Punjab cluster with over 1,000 beds

To strengthen its network in the Punjab market, Fortis Healthcare is set to acquire a 228-bed hospital—Shrimann Superspeciality Hospital in Jalandhar—for Rs 462 crore. This would take the bed count in the Punjab cluster to over 1,000 for Fortis.

 

It is an all-cash deal through a slump sale. The move aims to strengthen the hospital chain’s presence in the Punjab cluster, where it already has 772 beds across four institutions. Fortis currently operates two hospitals in Ludhiana and one each in Amritsar and Mohali. The company added that the facility currently has 191 operational beds out of its 228-bed capacity, which can potentially be expanded to over 270.

 

 

"In addition, the acquisition of the adjunct land parcel of approximately 2.4 acres provides an attractive opportunity to add another 180 beds in the future, taking the overall potential capacity to 450 beds," Fortis said.

 

Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Fortis Healthcare, termed the acquisition a good strategic fit, as Fortis already has a significant presence in Punjab with around 800 beds across four facilities.

 

"The transaction will allow us to capitalise on market opportunities as we expand to more than 1,000 beds and further strengthen our market presence in the region," he added.

 

The acquisition would be undertaken by Fortis’s wholly owned subsidiary, Fortis Hospital Limited (FHTL), and is subject to shareholder approval.

 

"As part of the transaction, FHTL would acquire the entire business operations, hospital building of Shrimann Hospital, as well as the underlying hospital land. In addition, an adjunct land parcel for possible future expansion is also being acquired," the company said in a regulatory filing. The transaction is estimated to be completed by the end of March 2025.

 

The NABH-accredited facility currently offers a complete range of super specialities, including cardiac sciences, nephrology, general and laparoscopic surgery, oncology, neurosciences, and gastroenterology.

 

Raghuvanshi stated that Fortis has been evaluating various acquisition opportunities to expand its presence in existing markets and to enable it to leverage the benefits of scale and synergies.

 

Fortis has been making smaller acquisitions over the past three to four years to expand its bed count. It had acquired a 350-bed hospital in Manesar, Haryana, and a 100 per cent stake in Artistery Properties, which included a land parcel near Fortis’s Anandpur facility in Kolkata in FY24.

 

Fortis currently runs 27 healthcare facilities, including joint ventures, and operations and maintenance (O&M) facilities, with around 4,700 operational beds across India. 

 

In the past three financial years, the Delhi based hospital chain has added almost 1,000 beds- with the company having 3,881 operational beds according to its investor presentation for Q3FY22. Most of this expansion has come through capacity expansion in existing facilities.