Digital healthcare startup Pharmeasy announced on Friday, June 25 that it will be acquiring a 66.1% stake in diagnostic chain Thyrocare for Rs 4,546 crore from founder A Velumani and other associates. This would be the first-ever acquisition of a listed company by a unicorn, according to Pharmeasy. The stake will be acquired at a price of Rs 1,300 per share, Pharmeasy said.
The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals. Docon Technologies Pvt Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of API Holdings (Pharmeasy’s parent company), will make an open offer for an additional 26% stake. The combined entity, Pharmaeasy said, will provide diagnostics and pharmacy services to over 100 million Indians within 24 hours.
Thyrocare’s Velumani will be separately acquiring a minority non-controlling stake of less than 5% in parent company API Holdings, as part of a series of equity investments by existing and new investors of API, the company said.
Pharmeasy, which recently became a unicorn and acquired Medlife to create India’s largest online pharmacy, said it has a customer base of over 12 million, network of over 6,000 digital consultation clinics and 90,000+ partner retailers across the country.
“It currently serves over 1mn patients for their pharmacy & diagnostics needs, conducts 300k+ consultations, and issues over 1mn digital prescriptions on a monthly basis,” Pharmeasy said.
Thyrocare has a volume of over 110 million tests performed annually, it said. It is the largest B2B player in the diagnostics space and has a network of 3,330+ collection centres across 2,000+ towns in India.
“The synergies of both, India’s largest digital health platform and one of the largest, cost-effective diagnostics solution providers (by volume) will reimagine and accelerate the delivery of high-quality diagnostic and OPD services across the full continuum of patient care to nearly 800mn Indians,” Pharmeasy said in a statement.
Siddharth Shah, CEO, API Holdings said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Thyrocare. We will provide world class customer experience in diagnostics, rivalling our pharmacy experience by leveraging technology, and building on top of the massive scale & truly pan-India presence of Thyrocare. It is our aim to deliver all outpatient healthcare products & services to every Indian within 24 hours.”
Dr A Velumani, Chairman & MD of Thyrocare, said, “I am excited about this relationship, unique of its kind in Indian Healthcare Industry. The unique reach and strength of Thyrocare in diagnostics blended with young and dynamic team of PharmEasy will bring in better healthcare solutions for the common man nationwide."