Temasek backed Cloudnine leads race to acquire ART Fertility for $400 mn
Mumbai: Temasek-backed Cloudnine Hospitals is leading the race to acquire Art Fertility, a UAE-based IVF treatment chain, signalling a growing interest among financial and strategic investors for single-specialty healthcare companies.
The deal, valuing Art Fertility at $400 million, has also seen interest from IVI, a European strategic investor, four people with knowledge of the development said on the condition of anonymity.
'The binding bids have come in. There are two final bidders. Cloudnine is likely the frontrunner," the first person cited above said. The deal will give existing investor Gulf Capital an exit.
Also read: Temasek, ADIA race to invest up to $300mn in medical equipment firm Micro Life
'Temasek is expected to double down on its investment in Cloudnine to help the company fund the acquisition," the people cited above said. 'The acquisition involves ART Fertility's entire business, comprising Middle Eastern and Indian divisions."
Investment bank Moelis & Co. is running the mandate for the transaction.
While spokespersons for Temasek and Moelis declined to comment, queries emailed to Cloudnine, ART Fertility and Gulf Capital did not elicit any response.
Temasek's new capital infusion comes less than a year after the Singapore government's investment arm bought nearly a 20% stake in Bengaluru-based Cloudnine for around $125 million. The deal, which valued the specialist mother and baby care hospital at around $600 million, gave early-stage venture capital firm Peak XV an exit from the company after 11 years.
Founded in 2006 by Dr. R Kishore Kumar, Rohit M.A., M. Ramachandra and Vidya Kumar, Cloudnine is a chain of super-specialty hospitals catering to fertility, maternity care, gynaecology, paediatrics, neonatology, baby care and stem cell banking. Currently, it has 34 centres across Indian cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Gurgaon, Ludhiana and Chandigarh. Twelve of the centres are in Bengaluru.
Also read: Bain held on to Emcure after the IPO. Here's what's next.
ART Fertility was established as an extension to IVI RMA Global, a company focused on assisted reproduction technology (ART), in 2015 under the brand name IVI Middle East. About five years later, Gulf Capital bought IVI RMA's stake and rebranded the company to ART Fertility.
For Cloudnine, the acquisition comes at a time when it's realigning its cap table ahead of a public listing that is expected later this year. This would be the hospital chain's second attempt at an initial public offering (IPO). In 2022, it had filed draft papers for a ₹1,200 crore IPO.
Cloudnine will leverage ART Fertility's presence in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai, alongside 11 clinics across India in cities including Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Its clinics have seen a swift expansion to become one of the leading players in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, with plans to extend services further across the globe, Gulf Capital said in a statement in November 2023.
Kids Clinic India Ltd, which operates Cloudnine, reported a consolidated revenue of $145.3 million in FY24 as compared with $119.8 million a year earlier. It narrowed its losses to $3.4 million from a loss of $5.3 million in FY23, according to data from Tracxn.
Also read: Dialysis chain NephroPlus engages bankers for a $200-250 mn IPO
ICRA noted last year that Kids Clinic will benefit from healthy revenue growth on a steady ramp-up at the existing centres and improving revenue share from new centres. The diversification of its presence across various parts of northern, western and southern India, coupled with plans to set up more units in metros and tier I cities, will also add to its growth.
With continuous expansion in recent years resulting in a sizable loss from new centres, its return on capital employed (ROCE) has been low in FY23 and FY24, ICRA said in the note. However, a robust scale of operations, gradual improvement in profit margins of new centres and stable margins of existing areas will support the improvement in ROCE over the medium term, the credit rating firm said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
India's top-10 most valued firms add Rs 1 lakh crore in market value; check out biggest gainers
NEW DELHI: Despite a muted trend in the equity market, four of the top 10 most valued Indian companies added a combined Rs 1,01,369.5 crore to their market valuation last week, with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) emerging as the top gainer. The BSE benchmark, however, slipped by 270.07 points or 0.33% during the same period. While HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and LIC witnessed gains in market valuation, six firms - Reliance Industries Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever Ltd - experienced a collective decrease of Rs 34,852.35 crore. LIC's market valuation increased significantly by Rs 59,233.61 crore to Rs 6,03,120.16 crore, marking the highest gain among the top-10 companies. State Bank of India's valuation grew by Rs 19,589.54 crore to Rs 7,25,036.13 crore. Bharti Airtel's market capitalisation (mcap) increased by Rs 14,084.2 crore to Rs 10,58,766.92 crore, while HDFC Bank's value rose by Rs 8,462.15 crore to Rs 14,89,185.62 crore. TCS, however, saw its mcap reduce by Rs 17,909.53 crore to Rs 12,53,486.42 crore. Bajaj Finance's mcap reduced by Rs 4,061.05 crore to Rs 5,70,146.49 crore, and ICICI Bank's value fell by Rs 2,605.81 crore to Rs 10,31,262.20 crore. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Esse novo alarme com câmera é quase gratuito em Rio Verde (consulte o preço) Alarmes Saiba Mais Undo Hindustan Unilever Ltd's valuation decreased by Rs 1,973.66 crore to Rs 5,52,001.22 crore, whilst Infosys experienced a reduction of Rs 656.45 crore to Rs 6,49,220.46 crore. Reliance Industries' valuation decreased by Rs 7,645.85 crore to Rs 19,22,693.71 crore. Reliance Industries however held its position as the most valued company, followed by HDFC Bank, TCS, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, SBI, Infosys, LIC, Bajaj Finance, and Hindustan Unilever. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
India's ultra-rich population to rise 50% by 2028, fastest globally: Report
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: India will witness the world's fastest growth in the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), with their population expected to surge by 50 per cent between 2023 and 2028, according to a report by McKinsey & Company and state of fashion luxury report says that the Indian luxury market is expected to grow between 15 and 20 per cent in 2025, fuelled by demographic and structural to the report, new luxury malls and department stores, such as the Jio World Plaza and Galeries Lafayette, are increasing luxury real estate in tier-one cities. It further adds that the newly increased taxes on imported goods over Rs 700,000 (USD 8,400) are expected to encourage domestic spending, although the domestic Goods and Services Tax on luxury goods remains high at 28 per to the Indian growth, the Japanese luxury market is expected to grow between 6 and 10 per cent in 2025, retaining its position as a core luxury market. The growth in Japanese markets will be driven by both solid domestic demand and tourism NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam announced that India has overtaken Japan to become the world's fourth-largest data from the International Monetary Fund, the CEO of India's apex think tank stated that India's economy has reached the USD 4 trillion per the report, Japan is home to the second-largest number of UHNWIs in Asia, which is expected to grow by more than 12 per cent from 2023 to 2028. The growth rate of UHNWIs in India is more than that of to the IMF's April edition of the World Economic Outlook report, India's nominal GDP for fiscal 2026 is expected to reach around USD 4.187 trillion. This is marginally more than Japan's likely GDP, which is estimated at USD 4.186 report added that over the past five years, the luxury industry experienced a period of exceptional value creation. Between 2019 and 2023, unprecedented demand for personal luxury goods -- fashion, handbags, watches and jewellery among them -- combinedWith a deep well of supply allowed the sector to achieve a 5 per cent compound annual growth brands outperformed global markets and achieved new profitability records. But in the year 2025 so far, the luxury industry has faced a significant slowdown that has hit even top brands hard. For the first time since 2016 (excluding 2020), luxury value creation of the industry's growth-driving engines have stalled. Macroeconomic headwinds --especially in the key China market, which grew more than 18 per cent annually from 2019 to 2023 -- are weighing heavily on the sector, the report highlighted.
Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
Ukraine war sparks shift as young Germans warm to careers in defence industry
Representative Image In a notable shift for a country long defined by post-war pacifism, a growing number of young Germans are rethinking careers in the defence sector, driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine and broader global instability. German arms manufacturers, traditionally absent from public recruitment events, participated for the first time in a job fair at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), a sign of changing tides. Students like 25-year-old Mika Scheid, an engineering student at KIT, are leading the shift. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a 'personal turning point,' said Scheid, who joined the armed forces as a reservist and now hopes to work in military equipment manufacturing. 'People are beginning to understand that the Bundeswehr (the German armed forces) is now clearly focused on defending the country and Nato,' he said. Despite student protests prompting Rheinmetall to pull out of the fair, interest in the arms industry appears to be growing. Uncertainty about US security guarantees in Europe and economic stagnation are also pushing young professionals to consider the defence sector, once viewed with suspicion. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo 'The political discourse we have had since 2022 has led Germans to change their way of seeing things,' said Eva Brueckner of Heinrich and Coll, a headhunting firm that recruits for the defence industry. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine over three years ago, ethical hesitations about the field have declined, she said. Companies are offering perks to lure fresh talent from relocation aid to gym memberships. Diehl, a major arms producer, is even offering scholarships to students, hoping to recruit them long-term. Nico Haenelt, a 19-year-old mechatronics student, attended the fair looking for an internship with Thyssenkrupp's submarine division. While his parents held pacifist views, he admitted, 'If the world were more peaceful, I would probably also look in other areas.' The European defence industry employs around 600,000 people and is projected to expand, especially under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has pledged to increase military spending. In the wake of job losses in other sectors, companies like Rheinmetall which recently absorbed workers from struggling auto supplier Continental and are becoming stabilisers for the broader economy. Still, attracting talent isn't easy. 'The sector is very conservative, and people who don't come from this background may have difficulty integrating,' said Brueckner. For some students, the stigma remains. Niklas, a computer science student, said he was looking for a job with 'meaning,' ideally in health or sustainability. The arms industry? 'Never,' he said.
