Pharmeasy to acquire Thyrocare in a deal worth over Rs 6,300 crore
Mentioning about its buyout of Medlife last year and that of Thyrocare acquisition now, Shah said plans are evolving for the company.
Mumbai: Startup Pharmeasy on Friday announced acquiring established diagnostics chain Thyrocare Technologies in a deal worth over Rs 6,300 crore, including buying the controlling stake from its 62-year-old founder A Velumani.
Pharmeasy’s parent company API Holdings has signed a definitive agreement to buy 66.1 per cent of Thyrocare stocks from Velumani and his affiliates at Rs 1,300 per share at the latter’s residence in the hill town of Lonavala in Pune, according to a statement.
This stake purchase is valued at Rs 4,546 crore.
Besides, API will acquire an additional 26 per cent in the listed Thyrocare through an open offer and is offering Rs 1,788 crore for the same while Velumani has been given the option to invest up to 5 per cent in API after the deal in a separate transaction.
Acknowledging that it is an “audacious move” wherein his 7-year-old company is acquiring the 25-year-old Thyrocare, API Holdings’ Chief Executive Siddharth Shah said the deal will synergise the offerings of Pharmeasy with Thyrocare’s services to ensure that 70 per cent of India gets a blood report and medicines in their homes within 24 hours.
Pharmeasy is primarily into medicine deliveries.
At present, Thyrocare has a network of 4,000 partner labs while Pharmeasy serves 17 million customers monthly through its network of 6,000 digital consultation clinics and 90,000 partner retailers.
“We feel diagnostics is important, Thyrocare has an outstanding backend, a very low cost structure and we have an unbelievable front end,” Shah said.
Pharmeasy will be raising $500 million at a valuation of $4 billion to fund the acquisition, Shah said, adding that it is already in touch with several institutional investors, including existing backers for the money. Pharmeasy had last raised money in April this year, when it sealed a $323 million-round at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
Mentioning about its buyout of Medlife last year and that of Thyrocare acquisition now, Shah said plans are evolving for the company.
After the announcement of the deal, Docon Technoligies, which is fully-owned by API, made a public announcement to acquire an additional 26 per cent in Thyrocare from existing shareholders at a price of Rs 1,300 per share which will see it pay over Rs 1,788 crore for acquiring 1.37 crore shares.
Shah said a provision has been made for Velumani — who gets richer by $600 million after the deal — to invest for up to 5 per cent stake in API in its USD 500 million capital raising round, after the sale is over. He stressed that the investment from Velumani will be separate from the existing deal.
“The unique reach and strength of Thyrocare in diagnostics blended with the young and dynamic team of Pharmeasy will bring in better healthcare solutions for common man nationwide,” Velumani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Thyrocare, said.
