Max Healthcare Institute, which listed last year after merger with KKR-backed Radiant Life Care, is entering the diagnostics business.
The hospital chain said in a disclosure that its board has approved the formation of a new subsidiary focused on diagnostics.
The new unit will provide a range of diagnostic services including pathology lab services to retail and non-captive customers as well as to third-party hospital lab management.
The new unit will be named Max Lab Ltd or Max Laboratories Ltd or Max Path Ltd or any other depending on the approval by the ministry of corporate affairs, it said.
Max Healthcare will acquire the new unit for Rs 5 crore.
Other large hospital chains such as Fortis Healthcare and Apollo Hospitals also have their wholly owned diagnostics subsidiaries or divisions that have attracted private equity funding.
For instance, diagnostics chain SRL, owned by Fortis Healthcare, has attracted funding in the past from International Finance Corporation (IFC), NYLIM Jacob Ballas and Avigo Capital Partners.
Apollo's Apollo Diagnostics is part of Apollo Health & Lifestyle Ltd, which also got investment from IFC.
SRL was set to float an IPO at one point in time but nothing came of it.
Meanwhile, peers Dr Lal PathLabs Ltd, Thyrocare Technologies Ltd and Metropolis have gone public in recent years on the back of robust investor interest in the industry.
