Bangalore: Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI), the India-focused private equity arm of Fidelity Worldwide Investment has invested Rs 400 crore in Chennai-headquartered medical technology firm Trivitron Healthcare.
Trivitron will use the funding on acquisitions of companies and technologies in Europe and the United States. The funds will also be used used to enhance the company's distribution operations in South East Asia, Middle East and Africa.
"We aim to become a global player in the imaging and lab diagnostics segment," said Dr GSK Velu, who founded the company in 1997 after a stint at Chiron Diagnostics as country head.
He said Fidelity's knowledge in the medical devices space in China, USA, and Europe will also help the firm to become a global player .
This investment also provides partial exits for ePlanet Ventures and Headland Capital, which have been investors in Trivitron since 2007.
Trivitron has become India's largest distributor and after-sales support provider of medical equipment and devices. These are used in areas such as imaging, cardiology, renal care and ophthalmology.
The medical equipment sector in the country is still nascent and dominated by imports.Fidelity invested in Trivitron, as it expects India will follow the same evolution trajectory as other emerging markets such as China where large, indigenous manufacturers of medical equipment have emerged over the past decade.
"Trivitron is well positioned to capitalize on this trend ," said Raj Dugar, senior managing director at FIL Capital Advisors (India), the advisory team for FGPI.
Trivitron will also use the funding to scale up research and development activities. It has setup medical technology park in Chennai which manufactures medical equipment.
The company recently set up centres of innovation for biomedical equipment in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai.
Trivitron aims to clock revenues of Rs 700 crore for FY2012-13 through organic and inorganic routes enabled through this investment round.
This year, the healthcare and life sciences sector has received the maximum investment from private equity and venture capital players, attracting $817 million across 29 investments till August, according to data from private equity focused research firm Venture Intelligence. Last year, there were 38 deals in the sector worth $421 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment