NEW DELHI, Dec 28: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries has made a significant investment by acquiring the tech-driven oncology-focused healthcare platform Karkinos for Rs 375 crore, as announced by the company on Saturday.
Reliance Strategic Business Ventures (RSBVL), a fully-owned subsidiary of India’s most valuable publicly listed company, finalized the acquisition of Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd after completing the necessary share allotment, according to a disclosure made to the stock exchange.
Karkinos was founded in India on July 24, 2020, specializing in innovative technological solutions for the early detection, diagnosis, and management of cancer. In the fiscal year 2022-23, the company reported a turnover of approximately Rs 22 crore.
According to the statement, “Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd has on December 27, 2024, subscribed to and been allocated 1 crore equity shares valued at Rs 10 each, totaling Rs 10 crore, and 36.5 crore optionally fully convertible debentures valued at Rs 10 each, totaling Rs 365 crore from Karkinos.”
Karkinos has also terminated the existing 30,075 equity shares owned by the previous shareholders in line with the approved resolution plan.
However, further details were not disclosed.
Previous notable investors in Karkinos included Ewart Investments Limited (a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons), Reliance Digital Health Ltd (a subsidiary of Reliance Industries), Mayo Clinic (USA), Sundar Raman (Director at Reliance Foundation Youth Sports and former COO of the Indian Premier League since 2008), and Ravi Kant (former MD of Tata Motors).
The company is dedicated to delivering comprehensive services for early detection and effective cancer treatment at significantly lower costs than current market rates while maintaining strong profitability. To achieve this, Karkinos has begun collaborating with hospitals to offer oncology services, including testing and radiation therapy.
As of December 2023, Karkinos has formed partnerships with approximately 60 hospitals. Additionally, they are establishing a 150-bed multispecialty cancer hospital in Imphal, Manipur, through a subsidiary. Future income sources include Advanced Cancer Care Diagnostics and Research (ACCDR), Distributed Cancer Care Network (DCCN), partnerships with corporations for early cancer diagnosis, and oncology hospitals.
The acquisition of Karkinos is expected to enhance the health services business portfolio of the Reliance Group, as stated in the filing.
The resolution plan for Karkinos received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench, and the transaction did not require any further government or regulatory clearances, it noted.
Previously, on December 10, Reliance disclosed that the NCLT had sanctioned the resolution plan put forth by RSBVL for Karkinos as part of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. (PTI)
