Chennai-based corporate hospital group Apollo Hospitals has sought shareholders’ nod for raising Rs 500 crore through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis, to augment long-term resources for financing ongoing capital expenditure, expansion activities of the company and for general corporate purposes. This would be within the overall approved borrowing limit of Rs 3, 850 crore. The company’s AGM is slated for August 30 and subsequent to the shareholders’ approval, the board will decide appropriately whether to issue debentures on a secured or unsecured basis.
Apollo Hospitals has plans to strengthen its presence not only in its existing clusters, but also to expand its reach in key urban markets where it is not currently present, according to the Annual Report 2023. The firm has established a strong presence in cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Madurai, and Mysore, among others.
Apollo Hospitals has also systematically strengthened its footprint in tier II as well as tier III cities. These tier II and tier III markets have a sizeable target population with sufficient spending potential and are largely underserved in terms of healthcare services. When compared to a tier I city, Apollo Hospitals’ healthcare centres in these tier II and tier III cities have a significantly lower capital cost per hospital bed. Currently, it has established hospitals in tier II and tier III cities such as, Bhubaneshwar, Bilaspur, Guwahati, Indore, Karur, Madurai, Nashik, Nellore, Trichy and Visakhapatnam. There is considerable headroom for growth in these centers, given the current capacity and operational beds already established, it said.
In a message to the shareholders, Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said the future of healthcare lies in automation, digitisation, robotics and 3D printing apart from deep science, genomics and molecular biology. Apollo Hospitals will continue to invest in all these frontiers, to further the cause of healthy living, he added.Apollo Hospitals has largest integrated healthcare eco-system with 70 hospitals, 5,541 pharmacies, 530 clinics and 1,750 diagnostic centres around the country.