MUMBAI: Billionaire BR Shetty’s Dubai-based group, owner of London-listed NMC Healthcare, has emerged as the highest bidder for debtridden SevenHills Hospital, multiple sources have confirmed to ET.
Philanthropic initiative Reliance Foundation, investment bankers JM Financial, private equity player KKR and the Piramal Group are among the others that were in the fray for SevenHills, which has a hospital each in Mumbai and Visakhapatanam.
With an estimated debt of `1,270 crore, SevenHills went under the hammer this year after lenders led by Axis Bank and a State Bank of India consortium initiated insolvency proceedings against the chain founded by Dr Jitendra Maganti, who is also its managing director.
In Mumbai, SevenHills was built with a public-private partnership of nearly `1,000-crore investment that failed to take off, with the municipal corporation suing the 1,000-bed hospital for non-compliance of the memorandum of understanding.
In November last year, ET had reported lenders were looking to file an insolvency plea against SevenHills, which reported net loss of `147 crore in 2015-16, as per filings.
Despite being endorsed by a Bollywood superstar, SevenHills failed to take off in Mumbai on the back of poor location and mismanagement.
Policy-based price cuts in stents and knee implants added to the pressure.
Other lenders include Allahabad Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank, Canara Bank, Central Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.
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