Indian law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has acted as legal counsel to Aster DM Healthcare on its merger with Quality Care India (QCI). QCI’s shareholders, Blackstone and TPG were represented by Trilegal and JSA Advocates & Solicitors, respectively.
This is the largest Indian deal in the hospital sector and values the combined entity at $5.08 billion. The combined entity, named as Aster DM Quality Care Limited, will be one of the three largest Indian hospital chains, behind Apollo Hospitals and Manipal Hospitals.
The transaction also contemplates a preferential issuance by Aster, prior to the merger, for an acquisition of 5 percent shareholding in QCI.
The healthcare sector in India is seeing an increase in consolidation, as market players look to capitalise on the growing demand for quality healthcare services in India.
This is Aster's first major deal since selling its Gulf business. The company will get access to Quality's 5,500 beds, taking the merged entity's total bed count to more than 10,000.
Blackstone will be the largest shareholder in the merged entity with a 30.7 percent stake, Aster promoters will have around 24 percent, and the rest will be held by public and other shareholders, including TPG, which will hold 10.22 percent.
The CAM team on the deal comprised partners Anand Jayachandran and Sonakshi Arora, principal associate Sheetal S, and associates Rohit Maheshwary, Hina Tolani, and Ayushi Mehta.
The Trilegal team that advised Blackstone and Quality Care India was led by partners Nishant Parikh, Arjun Ghose, and Ankit Kejriwal. Counsels Rahil Pereira and Ishika Goon, senior associates Akshra Pandey and Swarnima Mukherjee, and associates Radhika Bihani, Mohammed Khalfan, and Anushree Garg also assisted on the deal.
The JSA team that represented TPG and QCI was led by partners Iqbal Khan and Ambarish, and included partner Ashid Basheer, and senior associate Varun Natarajan. The antitrust team was led by partners Nisha Uberoi and Pranav Satyam and included senior associates Akrathi Shetty and Kamal Sharma, and associate Tarun Katariya.
