Mid-market private equity firm SeaLink Capital Partners has invested Rs 200 crore ($29.5 million) in mother- and child-care company Surya Children’s Medicare Pvt. Ltd, marking its second bet from its debut fund.
The transaction included an infusion of growth capital into Surya and a purchase of the stake held by the company's first external healthcare investor OrbiMed, a statement said without elaborating.
VCCircle had first reported in April that SeaLink was in advanced stage of investing in Surya.
The healthcare company, which was started by BS Avasthi in 1983, specialises in high-risk maternity, neonatal and paediatric intensive care. It has a presence in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Jaipur and has plans to expand in the next few years, the statement said.
Surya had raised Rs 54 crore from OrbiMed by selling a minority stake in September 2013.
The company operates in an unregulated market where the rising pre-term birth rates and maternal complications have created a need to improve clinical outcomes. Moreover, almost 30% of India’s population is under the age of 14 and requires both preventive and curative paediatric care. There is a significant undersupply of paediatric hospital beds in the country with an estimated deficit of nearly 200,000 beds, the statement noted.
“There is a significant shortfall in availability of paediatric healthcare services and infrastructure in India and addressing it is an extremely urgent issue,†said Heramb R Hajarnavis, managing partner, SeaLink.
SeaLink was floated by former KKR executive Hajarnavis in 2014. Earlier this year, it raised $315 million (Rs 2,040 crore) for its first fund.
The private equity firm had made its first investment in dialysis chain NephroPlus Health Services Pvt. Ltd in August 2016.
Apart from healthcare, the PE firm will also look at financial services, information technology, business services, consumer products and niche manufacturing sectors.
Sectoral deals
The mother- and child-care segment has attracted significant funding in the past few years.
In July 2016, TPG Growth invested $33 million (Rs 220 crore) in Rhea Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, which runs a chain of mother-care and child-care hospitals under the Motherhood brand, for a significant majority stake.
This deal came just months after private equity firm True North (formerly India Value Fund Advisors) invested Rs 400 crore (about $60 million) in Kids Clinic India Pvt. Ltd, which operates Cloudnine, a chain of maternity hospitals.
In June 2017, VCCircle reported that Cloudnine was in talks for a fresh private equity funding round.
Rainbow Children’s Medicare Pvt. Ltd, which runs a chain of paediatric and maternal care hospitals under the Rainbow Hospitals brand, has raised substantial funding from CDC Group Plc and Abraaj Group.