Investors in #UAE hospital chain Aster eye $300 million India stake sale | Reuters

Investors in UAE hospital chain Aster eye $300 million India stake sale | Reuters

Investors in Aster DM Healthcare (ATRD.NS) are in talks to sell a 30% stake in the company's India business for about $300 million, two sources with direct knowledge said, the latest potential deal in India's booming healthcare sector.

UAE-based and Mumbai-listed Aster runs 32 hospitals, 127 clinics and 521 pharmacies in India and the United Arab Emirates. The current talks are related to the India business and come just as Aster tries to demerge its Gulf business and sell a majority stake in that, Reuters reported last month.

Aster and its advisors have reached out to private equity giant KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) and Max Healthcare Institute (MAXE.NS) - one of India's largest hospital chains - to hold preliminary talks to take up the investors' stake, the sources said.

Aster's investors considering the sale are Olympus Capital, which has a 19% stake in the company, and Mauritius-based investment firm Rimco, which holds an 12% stake.

Aster has appointed New York-based investment bank Moelis & Company to manage the deal, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the discussions are private.