Yash Birla group to buy out partner in ayurveda venture

The Yash Birla group is all set to buy out its partner's stake in the joint venture company Birla Kerala Vaidyashala with an eye on expanding footprint further in the ayurvedic healthcare market.

Mr Harshjeet Kurup and family, original promoters of Kerala Vaidyashala, have agreed to sell out their 49 per cent stake in Birla Kerala Vaidyashala in favour of the engineering-to-education conglomerate, according to Mr P.V.R. Murthy, Group Finance Director of the Yash Birla Group.

Birla Kerala Vaidyashala, a chain of ayurvedic treatment centres and drug outlets, was formed as a 51:49 joint venture between the Rs 3,000-crore Yash Birla Group and the promoters of Kerala Vaidyashala in 2009. Back then, Kerala Vaidyashala had a network of 30 ayurvedic therapy centres across the country. BKV has a target of increasing the number of outlets to 200 by 2015. It also has ambitious plans of launching its medi-spas in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

As part of the exit transaction, the Yash Birla group will pay “under a million dollars” to the Kurup family, Mr Murthy told Business Line.

“Though Mr Harshjeet Kurup will cease to be the Managing Director of the company, he will continue to be an advisor to the board of directors. We expect to ink the transaction in the next few days,” said Mr Murthy.

Birla Kerala Vaidyashala has been categorised under the wellness and healthcare vertical by the Yash Birla Group. Mr N. Venkat, who was recently appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for this vertical, will oversee operations of Birla Kerala Vaidyashala for now.

It is estimated that 20 per cent of tourists who flock Kerala, one of the States where ayurveda is widely practised, also visit an ayurvedic spa. The market size for ayurveda healthcare in India is about $1.4 billion and is expected to grow at about 20 per cent annually for the next five years.