Apollo Hospitals will bring on board a US-based player for its healthcare BPO arm, Apollo Health Street. It will take a call on this soon.
“We are not interested in a pure equity player. We are looking at a partner who can add value and augment our efforts. We are only looking at BPO players. We have been in dialogue with a couple of players in the US. We will finalise the terms in 4-6 weeks if the price is reasonable,” said Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, on the sidelines of the company’s AGM.
The hospital group has been exploring options to shed stake and unlock value in Health Street for some time now. Sutherland Global Services is one of the players which has shown interest in taking a stake, Prathap Reddy had said earlier. Apollo Health Street, with its headquarters in New Jersey, works with healthcare organisations in the US to develop IT-based solutions.
Healthcare in the US market is seeing several “ups and downs”. But President Obama’s thrust on healthcare reforms has given a greater impetus to healthcare outsourcing, said Prathap Reddy.
Apollo Health Street was set up in 1999; it has delivery centres in 12 locations in the US and India. It reported revenues of Rs 490 crore in 2011-12, a growth of 10 per cent over the previous year. Profit after tax was Rs 0.1 crore.
Apollo Hospitals and associates have a 54 per cent stake in the BPO arm; Temasek Holdings, One Equity Partners and other investors hold the rest.