Goldman Sachs Group Inc has invested 1.1 billion rupees, or about $20 million in a medical device firm in India, in the Wall Street bank’s second investment in the country this month, and its latest in the healthcare sector.
Through its private equity arm, Goldman Sachs has invested in BPL Medical Technologies , a unit of Indian electronics products maker BPL Ltd. Funds raised will help BPL Medical expand the products it is selling as well its geographic footprint, the Indian firm said.
Based in Bangalore — India’s information technology hub — BPL Medical makes products such as include ultrasound scanners, and fetal dopplers that are used to check the heartbeat of a fetus.
“This investment reflects our continued focus on the Indian healthcare sector where we will continue to fund segments that have a great need and a large untapped potential,” Ankur Sahu, co-head of private equity in Asia at Goldman Sachs said.
Goldman, which has stakes in South Korean cable television firm C&M Co. Ltd. and Japanese internet service provider e-Access Ltd, invested $110 million in Indian cable television distribution company DEN Networks Ltd. earlier this month.
The Goldman investment in BPL Medical is its third in the Indian healthcare space. In August, Goldman invested 2.2 billion rupees ($40.1 million ) in Nova Medical Centers, which operates surgical centers in partnership with surgeons across India and the Middle East. It also has a stake in Max India Ltd, which has interests in life, health insurance and healthcare businesses.
BPL and Goldman Sachs didn’t reveal financial performance of the unit, and how much stake the Wall Street bank will acquire in it after the deal. They said, however, that Ankur Sahu and Harsh Nanda, an executive director at Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division, will join BPL Medical’s board of directors.
Source: WSJ