Devi Shetty’s Narayana Health announced on Friday the acquisition of a hospital chain in the United Kingdom, marking a major international expansion for the Bengaluru-headquartered healthcare group.
Narayana Health has acquired 100 per cent of Practice Plus Group Hospitals, taking control of all 12 hospitals across the UK.
“Each of these hospitals has around 50 beds on average. These hospitals are surgical units where procedures are performed,” Devi Shetty, founder and chairman of Narayana Health, told Metro on Friday.
The acquisition cost is approximately ₹2,200 crore, Shetty said.
The hospitals, including one on the outskirts of London, primarily serve patients under the National Health Service, the UK’s publicly funded healthcare system. Practice Plus Group specialises in orthopaedics, ophthalmology and general surgery, and is the fifth largest private hospital group in the UK, performing around 80,000 surgeries annually.
“We believe there is tremendous scope for growth. The basis of our decision to go to the UK is that our current hospital services are based on an efficiently-run digital platform,” said Shetty.
This marks Narayana Health’s second international venture. The group has
been running two hospitals in the Cayman Islands for the past 12 years.
Jim Easton, Practice Plus Group’s chief executive, said: “I’m excited about what Practice Plus Group’s hospitals and surgical centres can achieve with the expertise of Narayana Health behind us.”
Home expansion
The UK acquisition comes as Narayana Health pursues aggressive expansion in India. The group, which currently operates four hospitals in Calcutta, is building six greenfield hospitals across the country.
“We are targeting to make 1,400 beds operational for the new hospitals in the next 30 months,” said R. Venkatesh, group COO of Narayana Health.
The expansion includes a 1,000-bed facility at New Town, where construction has already begun. The first phase will have around 350 beds. The group is also building four hospitals in Bengaluru and one in Raipur.
