Global buyout investors are in the fray for a $400-million majority share acquisition in KIMS Group of Hospitals, a Kerala-based healthcare network with footprint in southern India and he Middle East. KIMS and its main shareholders Ascent Capital and OrbiMed have appointed investment bank NM Rothschild for a large fund-raise, drawing the nterest of private equity giants including Carlyle, Apax Partners, Baring Asia, Bain Capital and TPG. The deal will see Ascent and OrbiMed selling their controlling interest for about $200 million and the company raising an equal amount of fresh capital for expansion and inorganic growth.
KIMS Group operates a chain of speciality hospitals and medical centres across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Middle East -Dubai, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -with about 1,700 beds.