Wolters Kluwer eyes acquisition, tie-ups to grow in India

Wolters Kluwer, a Dutch business intelligence firm, is planning to expand in India through tie-ups and acquisitions.

The company, which started operations in India in 2006, is planning tie-ups with hospitals chains in metro and smaller cities.

Wolters Kluwer had a revenue of 2 billion euros in the first half of this year. The group has customers in 170 countries and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. In India, the company has 750 employees.

“We have a software product called UpToDate for the healthcare sector. Leading hospitals such as AIIMS, Ganga Ram Hospital, MAX Hospital, KMC, Tata Memorial Hospital, CMC Vellore and GS Seth Medical College are subscribing to it,” said Corinne Saunders, chief executive officer, emerging and developing markets, Wolters Kluwer.
 

UpToDate is an “evidence-based, peer-reviewed information resource” that helps doctors answer questions quickly, increase clinical knowledge and improve patient care. “It helps doctors understand health problems better,” added Saunders.

“In India we will be expanding in the digital health segment. We will target hospitals in tier-II and III cities and showcase our products and explain the need for them to adopt such software,” said Shireesh Sahai, chief executive officer,  Wolters Kluwer India.

“Over the last 10 years we have acquired around $900 million of assets. We plan more acquisitions in emerging markets,” added Saunders. He, however, did not specify the money allocated for investments in India.

The company plans to come out with more app-based solutions for various sectors. “In India evidence-based medicine is still in its nascent stage. But it is receiving good response from the market,” added Sahai.

Wolters Kluwer also caters to the tax and accounting sector with software made in its research laboratory in Pune. “CCH iFirm Practice Manager is an online practice management software designed around jobs, workflow and resourcing. It offers an integrated cloud software solution,” said Sahai.

He added the iFirm software had 100 customers. The company said it expected rapid growth in the Asia Pacific, with India being a major contributor. Wolters Kluwer in July topped first-half revenue expectations and said it was on track to meet full-year targets, with growth in North America and Asia Pacific outweighing a decline in Europe.