'Will continue to focus on control opportunities in Indian healthcare', says BPEA EQT's Ashish Agrawal

BPEA EQT will scout for more buyout deals in the Indian healthcare segment, including pharma and medtech (representative image)

A month after sealing the biggest private equity deal in the Indian financial services sector with the buyout of HDFC Credila, global investment behemoth BPEA EQT has now made a big splash with the largest transaction in the domestic fertility clinics space. It has beaten other global private equity rivals and acquired the market leader Indira IVF. Though the deal value was undisclosed, sources told Moneycontrol the ticket size was around a billion dollars.

On July 22, Moneycontrol was the first to report that BPEA EQT had the edge over others in the race for Indira IVF.

Also Read: $1 billion race for Indira IVF: BPEA EQT may have edge; Blackstone, others also in fray

Moneycontrol’s Ashwin Mohan caught up for a quick chat with Ashish Agrawal, partner, BPEA EQT in the firm’s first interview to Indian media post the deal announcement.

Agrawal elaborated on the rationale for the Indira IVF deal and said the firm will scout for more buyout deals in the Indian healthcare segment, including pharma and medtech.

What were the key reasons that drew BPEA EQT to acquire control in Indira IVF?

Fertility services and reproductive health is a large and fast-growing opportunity in India and Indira IVF is a pioneer in the market. We are truly impressed by its scalable and repeatable model with best-in-class medical infrastructure and technology systems that have the ability to help realize the dreams of couples who want to become parents.

This investment aligns with EQT’s commitment to investing in companies that address critical societal needs and have the potential to impact people's lives for the better. Under the stewardship of the founding Murdia family and the management team, Indira IVF has scaled to become a leader that has helped more than a hundred thousand couples achieve parenthood.

Altogether it is a very exciting deal, and we look forward to what the future holds for our partnership.

Would this be the biggest transaction ever in terms of deal size in India's fertility clinics segment?

Yes, this is the largest transaction ever in India’s fertility services segment. Indira IVF is approximately 3x the size of its nearest competitor (in terms of number of IVF cycles) and has best-in-class profitability.

Will BPEA EQT further explore the inorganic route and be open to add other assets later to the Indira IVF platform either in India or Asia?

We see strong potential in further expanding Indira IVF’s presence across India and entering adjacent markets, both organically and inorganically. We also plan to drive growth by continuing to invest in its R&D capabilities and technology, drawing on EQT’s in-house expertise within healthcare and digitalization.

What other sub sectors and niche areas of Indian pharma healthcare is BPEA EQT eyeing for buyouts and stake purchases ?

EQT is one of the world’s leading and most active healthcare investors globally, having invested in everything from medtech to pharma services. Similarly, in India we have spent considerable time and continue to actively look for opportunities across the pharmaceutical and medtech value chain.

There is a lot of consolidation ongoing in the Indian hospital space, with your peers like Temasek making inroads with big ticket Investments. How much does this space interest you either in terms of multi-specialty or single speciality chains?

BPEA EQT has been tracking the healthcare services sector in India for the past several years. Last year, we invested in AIG Hospitals, a leading multi-specialty hospital based in Hyderabad, and with Indira IVF, we will add a marquee single specialty asset to our portfolio. We will continue to focus on control opportunities in the Indian healthcare services sector. Today, we’re really excited to be announcing this investment in Indira IVF and look forward to what the future holds for our partnership with the company.