India’s Healthcare Sector : More Mergers and Acquisitions in the Future

Published on 14 Oct, 2016

India is a complicated place in which to do business, particularly in the healthcare sector. When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, it’s not unlike Monopoly: the more assets a company has, the more valuable they are. Despite cultural differences and language barriers, however, every forward-thinking company needs to consider merging with another company, or acquiring a competitor in order to grow. Healthcare is in bigger demand than ever; thanks to urbanisation and a growing middle class. For many, this presents more opportunity for M&A in this sector.

According to Prabir Chetia, Associate Vice President, Business Research & Advisory, Aranca, this year Pharma companies will continue to seek opportunities globally leading to significant outbound M&A activities, further strengthening our leadership position in generic medicine. “Selective interest from Healthcare service providers from Southeast Asia and local companies looking to gain larger customer base will fuel the inbound and domestic M&A activities. Pharma and Healthcare services delivery sector accounts to almost 75% of the total M&A deal value and the trend will continue. Last year RBI allowed 100% FDI through the automatic route in the medical devices sector, which now will see some investment and growth this year. Additionally we expect to see similar investment activities happening on the AYUSH and technology space.”