Mumbai: Private equity firm InvAscent is preparing to list five portfolio companies in the healthcare and pharma segments in the next 24-36 months as the firms scale, chairman and managing director Hari Bugana said in an interview.
These portfolio companies include pharmaceutical companies Symbiotec Pharmalab Ltd and Malladi Drugs, women and children-focused Ankura Hospital, healthcare device business Accumax Lab Devices Pvt. Ltd and digital health technology platform MediBuddy, he said.
A public listing of these portfolio companies will open up exit opportunities for investors focused on healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
“An additional opportunity to exit through the capital markets has opened up for us – this is a change in our strategy. In the past, our exits have been to other financial investors or strategic companies,” Bugana said.
InvAscent is invested in these five portfolio companies by India Life Sciences Fund III, which is about $350 million in size.
Buggana said portfolio firms need to be scaled to ₹150 crore in Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) when they list – which is usually the expectation that capital market investors have for listed companies.
“We are seeing strong institutional investor interest in large-scale healthcare and pharmaceutical assets in the capital markets. Many of these listed entities are trading at huge premiums, which is a reflection of the supply and demand in this space,” Bugana said.
So far, InvAscent has exited by selling its stakes to larger PE firms or other companies.
In 2023, InvAscent exited at least five portfolio companies. It sold its stake in Oliva Skin & Hair Clinic and Oasis Fertility to Kedaara Capital and disposed of its stake in Comprehensive Prosthetics and Orthotics (CPO) to fellow PE firms NorthCreek and Parkway Partners. It also sold its stake in Biorad Medisys back to the company’s promoters and in Stericon Pharma to the Nirma Group.
It has also lined up other exits, including at Inventia Healthcare. Mint reported on January 2 that InvAscent is looking to exit its stake in Aizant Drugs, an asset likely to be looked at by larger PE firms.
InvAscent has raised over $500 million across three funds. It fully returned its first fund – to the tune of $107 million – back to its investors. “Our DPI (distributed paid-in capital) for Fund 2 is 1.5 with four investments still to exit,” he said. DPI is the ratio of capital returned to limited partners or investors compared to contributions received. InvAscent’s second fund totaled $146 million, meaning the firm has returned $219 million to its investors so far.
InvAscent, which operates as InvAscent Advisory Services India LLP, has invested in over 35 companies in the pharmaceutical, healthcare delivery, health technology, medical device and veterinary industries, according to its website. The PE firm is currently deploying from its fourth fund (India Life Sciences Fund IV). In December, it made a double investment through India Life Sciences Fund IV – investing in Hyderabad-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) firm Fleming Laboratories and Bengaluru-based health technology firm ABI Health Technologies Pvt. Ltd (ABI).
A public listing will open up exit opportunities for the healthcare-focused investor
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