Fortis director-medical operations Rajen Ghadiok (left) with president (strategies) Daljit Singh in Calcutta on Friday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, April 13: Ranbaxy-promoted Fortis Healthcare Ltd will tap the capital market with an initial public offering of 4.6 crore shares between April 16 and April 20. The 100 per cent book-built issue will cost Rs 92 per share at the lower limit and Rs 110 at the upper limit. The company has also drawn up an aggressive expansion plan.

In February, Fortis, the largest hospital chain in the country with over 1,800 beds, acquired Hiranandani Healthcare Private Ltd for Rs 25.6 crore. It is developing a 152-bed super speciality hospital in Navi Mumbai.

Fortis is also constructing three more hospitals. These are coming up at Shalimarbagh in Delhi and at Gurgaon in Haryana with over 200 beds each and a 163-bed hospital at Jaipur in Rajasthan.

“We now have 12 hospitals and 16 heart command centres in six states with a capacity of more than 1,800 beds. The capacity will go up to 2,500 beds when the four hospitals under construction will be ready,” said Daljit Singh, president (strategies), Fortis Healthcare.

“This we have achieved in only six years and we are looking at all options — greenfield hospital construction, acquisition of existing facilities and contract for operations and management of existing hospitals,” said Pawanpreet Singh, chief financial officer, Fortis Healthcare.

“A part of the issue proceeds will be used to develop the 200-bed hospital at Shalimarbagh in New Delhi and some will be used to prepay the short-term loans we had taken from banks to fund the acquisition of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in 2005,” he added.

The Shalimar hospital, however, belongs to Fortis subsidiary Oscar Bio-Tech Private Ltd, which the company acquired in March last year for Rs 42 crore. The cost of development of the hospital is estimated at Rs 200 crore.