Max India to sell hospital assets

NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (Reuters): Indian healthcare firm Max India Ltd said on Monday it would sell a majority stake in its hospital-operating joint venture to KKR-backed Radiant Life Care Pvt Ltd, resulting in a listed company worth 72.42 billion rupees ($1.03 billion).

In a so-called reverse merger, Radiant will buy out the other JV partner, South Africa-based hospital operator Life Healthcare, and merge its own assets into Max Healthcare.

This entity will list itself and offer more than 3,200 beds in 16 hospitals across India, Max India said in a statement.

The deal is expected to give Radiant a firmer grip on the private healthcare market in India, where spending is on the rise as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to implement a healthcare programmeme aimed at providing insurance cover to hundreds of millions of people.