Private equity firm BPEA EQT has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Mumbai-based in-vitro fertilization chain Indira IVF Hospital Pvt. Ltd from TA Associates and the company’s founders
The founders—Dr. Ajay Murdia, Dr. Kshitiz Murdia, and Dr. Nitiz Murdia—will continue to operate the company after the deal and will retain a 'significant' stake, the PE firm said in a statement.
The PE firm didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal but said that, with this transaction, its BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII will be be 35-40% invested. The fund had raised $11.2 billion, the PE firm said last year at the time of its final close.
Separately, two people familiar with the matter said the transaction valued Indira IVF around Rs 9,000 crore ($1.09 billion).
The announcement comes a month after Mint, the parent of this news website, reported that BPEA EQT, Blackstone, CVC Capital and General Atlantic were in the race to acquire Indira IVF.
The PE investors were seeking majority control of the treatment chain due to growing demand in the IVF segment, Mint reported, adding that the company was seeking a valuation of over $1 billion.
The Murdia family holds nearly 52% of Indira IVF with PE firm TA Associates holding the remaining stake. Last year, in order to buy out two individual owners, the Murdias and TA Associates collectively borrowed Rs 1,200 crore from Kotak Mahindra Bank.
TA Associates has fully exited in this transaction, the people cited above said.
Indira IVF was founded in 1988 and has since then scaled from a single clinic to a nationwide network spanning 116 centres across 20 states in India. The company is one of the major players in the IVF space.
“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. We see strong potential in further expanding Indira IVF’s presence across India and entering adjacent markets while continuing to invest in its R&D capabilities and technology, drawing on EQT’s in-house expertise within healthcare and digitalization,” said Ashish Agrawal, Partner at BPEA EQT.
BPEA EQT was advised by JSA (legal), Lincoln International, Price Waterhouse & Co LLP (transaction and tax, operational DD), Deloitte (financial and tax DD, structuring, ESG), and Awelin (digital). The selling shareholders were advised by Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan.
Deals in the IVF segment
India's IVF market is extremely fragmented, with both domestic businesses and a small number of overseas businesses providing such services. In addition to specialized IVF companies, hospital chains like Cloudnine Hospitals, which focuses on childbirth, and Rainbow Hospitals, which primarily offers pediatric services, also provide IVF treatments.
The IVF segment has seen robust PE interest in recent years. In August 2022, Kedaara Capital invested $50 million in Oasis Fertility. PE firm TPG’s healthcare platform Asia Healthcare Holdings acquired Nova IVF in 2019. In April, the Belgian family office Verlinvest acquired Ferty9 Fertility Centre.
