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Dr Agarwal’s Healthcare announced that it has raised ₹270 crore from Singapore-based global investment company, Temasek.
The eyecare chain will use the funds to double the number of hospitals in the country to 150 in five years and to invest in technology for super speciality eyecare, a senior official said.
“We are taking up the expansion plan in three phases — in the next 15 months, we will add 25 hospitals to take the number to 100, and will add another 25 hospitals each in three and five years’ time,” Amar Agarwal, Chairman, Dr Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospitals, told Businessline .
Dr Agarwal’s group currently has 75 hospitals across 12 States in India and 14 hospitals across 10 countries in Africa. “Today, we have 10,000 patients walking into Agarwal’s everyday, and our target is to cater to 30,000 patients in the next five years,” Agarwal said. In Chennai alone, Dr Agarwal’s has 17 centres, which will be increased to 25, post expansion in the next five years.
“We have committed our own set of mistakes by expanding slowly, and we are making a course correction now,” Agarwal said. The eyecare provider has added only 75 hospitals in the last 10 years.
Focus on numbers
The chairman also said that post expansion, the number of doctors will more than double to 800 from the current strength of 350. “Also, from a turnover point of view, we will be reaching ₹1,500 crore with 20-25 per cent EBITDA in five years,” Agarwal said.
Adil Agarwal, CEO, Dr Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospitals, said the expansion will be done through a mix of strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and greenfield hospitals. “Our next stage of expansion will be more of a Indian growth story with major focus on southern States, in addition to Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal,” said Adil. He also added that 15 out of 25 centres for phase one expansion have already been identified, and the work on these centres will commence shortly.
“Our ultimate aim is to provide high-quality eyecare across all the centres,” Agarwal said. He also added that the college of optometry run by the group will help address the manpower needs arising out of expansion.
In 2016, Hong Kong-based Private Equity (PE) fund ADV Partners invested ₹270 crore in the Agarwal group.
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