CDC, the UK government-owned development finance institution, and the Abraaj Group, a Dubai-based private equity investor have announced a joint investment of Rs 100 crore in the Andhra Pradesh-based hospital chain, Rainbow Hospitals, which focuses on women and children's health-care.
Starting with a single, 50-bed hospital 15 years ago, Rainbow Hospitals now has five across Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Vijayawada, with a total of 450 beds.
Rainbow now plans to enter other cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kurnool and Vizag by 2018. It will foray into Bangalore in 2014/15 with a 200 bed hospital.
"This fresh investment will give us the capacity to expand the number of beds from 450 today to close to 1000 by 2017," says Dr Ramesh Kancharla, Chairman and Managing Director, Rainbow Hospitals.
Kancharla says Rainbow Hospital began after he returned from the US with the idea of creating a specialised children's hospital. He claimed it had emerged a leader in the tertiary children's care hospital segment. It also offered pre-natal care for high risk pregnancies and other specialised verticals such as paediatric intensive care, paediatric cardiology and nephrology.
"We will work closely with the company giving it the long-term capital and support it will need to build the business," says N. Srinivasan, Regional Director - South Asia, CDC, adding that this the institution's first direct equity investment in India.
Abraaj group, with six hubs across Dubai, Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Nairobi and Singapore, currently manages $7.5 billion across 25 sector and country-specific funds.
"This is the 28th investment globally for the Abraaj Group," says Rishi Maheshwari, Vice President, Abraaj Capital Advisors in India.
Published on: Aug 14, 2013 6:31 PM IST