Infertility hospital Birla Fertility & IVF, part of the $3 billion (about Rs 25,000 crore) CK Birla Group, on Thursday said it has acquired a homegrown chain of fertility centres, continuing its acquisition spree as it seeks to expand further.
Birla Fertility & IVF, India’s third-largest IVF network, has acquired a dozen clinics of Bangalore-based BabyScience IVF.
This marks Birla Fertility’s second acquisition within three months. Earlier, it acquired a majority stake in Kerala-based ARMC IVF. With the acquisitions, Birla Fertility will enter Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, expanding its network to 50 clinics nationwide. The company currently operates across 37 cities.
While the companies did not disclose the financial details, a person familiar with the matter told VCCircle that Birla Fertility acquired the twelve clinics in BabyScience IVF for about Rs 100 crore.
“The growth of next 50 clinics will be a combination of both organic and inorganic choices,” Avanti Birla, founder, CK Birla Healthcare, told VCCircle.
Acquisitions are a key component of Birla Fertility’s expansion plan, with a continued investment of over Rs 500 crore. It plans to expand to 100 clinics by FY28, the company said in a press statement earlier.
“With this step, Birla Fertility & IVF aims to raise awareness and provide reliable fertility treatments, strengthening our presence in the South,” said Akshat Seth, vice chairman, C K Birla Healthcare.
BabyScience IVF Clinics was established in August 2020 in Bangalore. It plans to launch 36 centers in India and abroad over the next three years. It posted net sales of Rs 26 crore in fiscal year 2023, up from Rs 9 crore in the preceding year. However, its net loss widened to Rs 10.6 crore from Rs 2.3 crore, during the same time, as per VCCEdge, the data intelligence platform of VCCircle.
Birla Fertility & IVF offers fertility treatments like in-vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic-sperm injection (ICSI), intrauterine insemination (IUI) among others.
Its parent, CK Birla Group is an India-based multinational conglomerate operating hospitals in Kolkata, Jaipur, Gurugram and Delhi. With over 35,000 employees, the group operates 52 manufacturing facilities across India and international markets.
Birla Fertility & IVF posted net sales of Rs 218 crore for FY23 against Rs 121 crore in the preceding year, as per VCCEdge. However, losses widened to Rs 61 crore from Rs 45 crore during the period.