New Delhi, Aug. 18 -- A clutch of homegrown private equity firms has joined the race to pick up a minority stake in Kerala-based in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) company Agappe Diagnostics, adding to the list of global rivals already evaluating the opportunity, according to at least two people familiar with the matter.
The latest development comes after The Economic Times reported last month that global PE firms Warburg Pincus, TA Associates, Bain Capital, and CVC Capital were in early-stage discussions to acquire a stake in Agappe Diagnostics.
According to one of the people cited above, domestic PE firms ChrysCapital, Kedaara Capital and Motilal Oswal Alternatives (MO Alts) have now joined the discussions to pick up a stake in the company.
The proposed deal is estimated to be worth around Rs 1,000 crore ($104 million), according to the second person. Agappe is likely to command a valuation of around Rs 3,000 crore, the person added.
Email queries sent to Agappe, ChrysCapital, Kedaara Capital and MO Alts remained unanswered till the time of publishing this article.
VCCircle had reported last year that Agappe was considering the dilution of a majority stake and had initiated early-stage discussions with a clutch of strategic investors backed by bulge-bracket private equity firms.
Founded in 1995, the company manufactures reagents and equipment for the in-vitro diagnostic industry. It has a network of over 1,000 distributors and claims a presence in over 90 countries. As per its website, it has a monthly production capacity of 400,000 reagent kits and 4,500 instruments per shift.
The company posted net sales of Rs 516 crore in FY25, up from Rs 442 crore a year ago. Profit after tax rose to Rs 31.2 crore from Rs 17.4 crore during the same period, according to VCCEdge, the data and research platform of VCCircle.
The broader medical devices sector has witnessed a steady pace of dealmaking in recent months.
In February this year, VCCircle reported that KKR-backed medical device maker Healthium Medtech was in advanced discussions to acquire a majority stake in a peer through a secondary transaction.
In November last year, VCCircle also reported that PE-backed Entero Healthcare Solutions was set to acquire two companies engaged in the distribution of medical devices and healthcare products.
According to IMARC Group, the Indian medical devices market is expected to grow from $20.23 billion in 2026 to $31.85 billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 5.83%. Orthopedic devices accounted for the largest product segment in 2025 with an 18% share, while hospitals and ambulatory surgery centres represented 70% of end-user demand. South India led the regional market with a 34% share, driven by Tamil Nadu's healthcare ecosystem and Karnataka's medical device manufacturing base, the report said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.