Manipal Hospitals, one of India’s largest chain of multi-specialty hospitals, announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% stake in Seattle-based healthcare chain, Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt Ltd. The transfer of ownership, however, will happen after regulatory approvals are in place, Manipal Hospitals said in a statement.
Once the deal is completed, Manipal Hospitals will own 27 hospitals across 15 cities in India with over 7,200 beds. The combined talent pools will have over 4,000 doctors and above 10,000 employees. With the acquisition, Manipal Hospitals will also have a footprint in east India and will become one of the major private healthcare service providers across the country. In 2019, Columbia Asia had decided to withdraw from the healthcare business in India and hired investment banking company Morgan Stanley to find a formal buyer. Columbia Asia wanted to sell its assets for $250-300 million.
Dr Ranjan Pai, Chairman of the Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), said, “We are very pleased to welcome Columbia Asia Hospitals to the Manipal family and proudly acknowledge their outstanding track record of healthcare delivery of a very high standard over the years. Columbia Asia makes a compelling strategic fit to our core values of clinical excellence, patient centricity and ethical practices, and will help us advance our commitment to provide outstanding patient care. This is the start of an exceptional journey for us and together with Columbia Asia, we are now bigger, stronger and uniquely positioned to meet the growing expectations of the communities we serve across the country.”
In October last year, Columbia Asia had announced that Manipal Hospitals had shown interest in buying. In September 2019, TPG Capital, which owns 25% stake in Manipal Hospitals, was a part of the consortium that expressed interest in buying Columbia’s South East Asian operations. Hong Kong’s Hong Leong Group and TPG Capital Management bought it for $1.2 billion in January 2020.
Columbia Asia Hospitals opened up its first unit in India in 2005 in Bengaluru’s Hebbal. It currently operates 11 hospitals across the country in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kolkata, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Patiala and Pune with over 1,300 beds, 1,200 clinicians and 4,000 employees.
Sharing his views on the transaction, Dan Baty, Chairman, Columbia Pacific Management said, “From day one, we focused on building a culture of putting the patient first to deliver the highest quality healthcare with integrity and exceptional service. This combination of Columbia Asia and Manipal Hospitals is very exciting because of the strong cultural alignment between the two companies – and the opportunity it provides for continued growth.”