API Holdings, which operates the giant healthcare startup Pharmacy, said on Friday it had reached an agreement to acquire a 66.1% stake in Thyrocare, which operates the diagnostic lab chain, making it the second largest acquisition in the world at $11 million, listed by Unicorn startups in the most populous country. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals. Dacon Technologies, a 100% subsidiary of API, will be the acquirer and will make a free offer for 26% of the shares worth more than $241 million, the startup said in a statement.
This is a complex transaction. In a filing on a local exchange (PDF), Thyrocare revealed that API Holdings wants to rise more funding, where it is Thyrocare promoter Dr. A. Velumani could sell about 4.9% of the shares for about $202 million. That means more than $4 billion worth of valuations to start with. The six-year-old startup, which has raised about $572 million to date and was valued at $1.5 billion in its most recent round of funding in April, has been counted among investors from Pros Ventures, Temasek, Eight Rhodes Ventures, TPG, B Capital Group and Besam Ventures.
On Friday, Siddharth Shah, chief executive of API Holdings, said the startup was discussing extending the $ 500 million financing round to a $4 billion valuation. The only healthcare Unicorn startup in India, Pharmacy is the largest online pharmacy and diagnostics brand in the country. It operates a business-to-business pharmaceutical marketplace with more than 6,000 consulting clinics with 90,000 partner retailers across the South Asian country.
Thyrocare is India’s largest diagnostic solutions provider by volume (it handles more than 110 million tests a year). The 26-year-old operates a network of more than 3,330 collection centers in 2,000+ cities across India. The proposed acquisition will enable PharmEasy to serve one patient throughout their journey in one treatment, Shah said. The startup has no immediate plans to go public, he said. “We are delighted to be partnering with Thyrocare. We will provide world-class customer experience in diagnostics, compete with our pharmacy experience by leveraging the technology and build to the top on a massive scale, and truly present the presence of Thyrocare Pan-India. Shah, 32, said in a statement, “Our goal is to deliver every outpatient healthcare product and service to every Indian within 24 hours.”
