Oasis Centre for Reproductive Medicine, which runs a chain of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centres in South India, said on Monday it has received investment from a healthcare-focused private equity fund India Life Sciences Fund II.
Oasis, which was founded in 2009 by Durga G Rao and Kiran Gadela, will use the Rs 40 crore ($6.2 million) to open more centres and introduce advanced assisted reproductive technology (ART) for infertility treatments, it said in a statement.
The company is looking to open 20 more centres in the next five years, with primary focus on expansion in South India, Gadela, who is managing director said. The company currently has five centres in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The Hyderabad-based company, which is a unit of the entity Sadguru Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd, will also create training programmes in both clinical and embryology services, Rao, who is medical director said.
Anula K Jayasuriya, managing director, InvAscent, the investment advisor to India Life Sciences Fund II, will join the board of Oasis.
Bangalore-based advisory services firm Neev Corporate Advisors was the financial advisor for this transaction.
The IVF market is highly fragmented with both domestic and a handful of foreign companies offering services. The IVF market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.1% in the next five years to reach Rs 5,027.57 crore ($756 million) by 2021, the statement said citing a report by MarketsandMarkets.
Bourn Hall India, part of the UK-based healthcare services firm Bourn Hall International, and Nova IVI Fertility, a joint venture between Nova Medical Centers Pvt. Ltd and Spanish IVF technology firm IVI, are among the major players in the space. Notably, Bourn Hall India is backed by private equity firm TVM Capital MENA. India's bigger hospital chains, including Apollo Hospitals and Max Healthcare, also offer IVF services.
Early in March, Swedish company Medicover Healthcare said it is launching its fertility business in India with an initial investment of $100 million.
For India Life Sciences Fund II, which had raised Rs 875 crore ($146 million then) in September 2014, this is its eighth transaction.
The fund has previously invested in Synergia, Sunshine Hospitals, Comprehensive Prosthetics & Orthotics, Oliva Advanced Hair and Skin Clinic, Relisys Medical Devices and Sandor Medicaids.
InvAscent's first fund, Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund I, was created in 2006 and had a corpus of $100 million. This fund had invested in eight firms and has exited four of them. Earlier this year it exited Dr Agarwal's Healthcare.
In the past, it exited Gland Pharma, Health Care Global and Sutures India. It aims to exit the remaining four -- Fermenta Biotech, Uquifa, Neuland Group and Anjan Drugs -- by the end of this year.
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