New Delhi, May 15 -- Baby Memorial Hospital Ltd (BMH), the Kerala-based multispecialty hospital operator controlled by private equity firm KKR, has struck another bolt-on deal to acquire a South Indian healthcare services provider.
Baby Memorial has agreed to acquire Hyderabad-based Unimed Health Care Pvt Ltd, the operator of Star Hospitals, according to a social media post.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, VCCircle previously reported that BMH was expected to spend around Rs 1,000 crore on the transaction. A separate report in The Economic Times pegged the deal size at around Rs 1,800 crore, with a valuation of nearly Rs 3,000 crore.
The acquisition of Star Hospitals will increase Baby Memorial's capacity to about 3,000 beds across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, according to Mohit Khullar, managing director, Alvarez & Marsal Corporate Finance in India.
Alvarez & Marsal Corporate Finance acted as the sole financial advisor to Star Hospitals on this transaction.
In August last year, VCCircle first reported that Star Hospitals planned to raise around Rs 1,000-1,200 crore, with Manipal Hospitals and KKR-backed Baby Memorial Hospital evaluating acquiring a possible stake. By December, Baby Memorial entered advanced talks to buy Star Hospitals and in January this year, the company was close to stitching a deal with the Hyderabad-based company.
On a standalone basis, Star Hospitals recorded a nearly 33% increase in operating revenue to Rs 563 crore in the financial year ended March 2025, according to VCCEdge, VCCircle's data research arm. It also reported a net profit of Rs 34.8 crore, compared with a loss of Rs 21.2 crore in the preceding year.
The company is likely to have recorded healthy revenue growth in FY26, driven by the addition of several beds expected in the second half of that fiscal year, alongside improving occupancy and revenue per bed.
Founded by cardiothoracic surgeon Gopichand Mannam, the 600-bed hospital chain employs over 150 doctors and has performed over 85,000 surgeries to date. Mannam himself has conducted over 43,000 surgeries and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016 for his contribution to medical science. Star Hospitals operates two facilities in Hyderabad, at Banjara Hills and Nanakramguda.
Meanwhile, KKR is building a healthcare platform under Baby Memorial through a bolt-on acquisition strategy.
KKR had invested about Rs 2,133 crore in July 2024 as primary capital in BMH, as per the company's annual report. According to VCCircle estimates, it likely invested an additional Rs 354 crore in subsequent months, mostly to buy out part of the stake held by BMH's promoters, taking its total investment close to Rs 2,500 crore.
The PE firm owned a 70.96% stake in BMH as of March 2025, according to the company's annual report. It likely injected more money into the company to help BMH make acquisitions. BMH bought Chazhikattu Hospital in Kerala's Idukki district in late 2024, acquired Kerala's Meitra Hospital and snapped up Vellore, Tamil Nadu-based Naruvi Hospitals last year.
The Economic Times reported last month that KKR invested an additional Rs 1,750 crore in Baby Memorial, increasing its stake to almost 75% stake.
Apart from BMH, KKR acquired a controlling 54% stake in Bengaluru-headquartered Healthcare Global from European PE firm CVC Partners in February last year.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.