Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has picked up a 16 per cent stake in Fortis Healthcare Ltd, a company promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, the sons of late Parvinder Singh.
According to sources, Ranbaxy has bought 6.14 million shares of Fortis at par amounting to an investment of Rs 6.14 crore. The balance shareholding remains with the two brothers. Malvinder and Shivinder are also the principal shareholders in Ranbaxy with a stake of over 30 per cent. However, neither of the two brothers is on the board of the company. While Malvinder works for Ranbaxy, Shivinder is involved with Fortis.
Fortis is setting up a network of hospitals in the north based on the hub-and-spokes model -- a big hospital linked to several smaller hospitals in the region. Thus, it is putting the super-specialty Fortis Heart Institute at Mohali near Chandigarh. Put up at a cost of Rs 155 crore, it will be connected to six multi-speciality secondary care hospitals located at Jullundhur, Ambala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Simla and Jammu. These hospitals will focus on orthopaedics, neurology, oncology and gastro intestinal problems. The company is looking at either putting up these hospitals on its own or going through the joint venture route with some local players.
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According to Fortis director (corporate marketing) Janak Singh Bajwa, the six hospitals will be linked with the hub at Mohali which will also have an electronic patient record. "Doctors from the hub can be contacted for a second opinion," he said adding: "The idea is to be available for all the needs of the patient."
The investment, according to Bajwa, is being funded equally by debt and equity. Once the network is up and running, Fortis may try and replicate it in other parts of the country.
Other business groups including the Analjit Singh-promoted Max Healthcare, Prathap Reddy-promoted Apollo Hospitals group and Escorts too are looking at the option of setting up a similar hub-and-spoke network of hospitals in the country.
Fortis had recently tied up with Massachusetts General Hospital for transfer of clinical protocols and procedures related to cardiac, quality assurance, training of hospital personnel, criteria for accreditation in accordance with US hospital standards etc. The two hospitals will also refer patients to each other. Patients who cannot afford to go to the US for operations, especially from the Asian region, would be referred to the Fortis Heart Institute at Mohali.