Tube Investments, Premji Invest to acquire Lotus Surgicals

Murugappa Group’s engineering firm Tube Investments of India and (TII) Azim Premji’s private equity fund Premji Invest announced on Saturday that together they would be acquiring Lotus Surgicals, a maker of wound closure products, for a sum of Rs 348 crore.

Tube Investments will invest Rs 233 crore for 67 per cent stake, while Premji Invest will pick up the remaining 33 per cent at Rs 115 crore from the existing shareholders of Lotus Surgicals. ”Tube Investments and Premji Invest on Saturday signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent equity capital of Lotus Surgicals Pvt Ltd from India Medical Consumables Holdings Ltd, a Samara Capital entity, and other shareholders”, a statement released here said.

The two companies are partnering for the acquisition with the objective of setting up a medical technology platform, which aspires to become a global platform to design, manufacture and distribute innovative world-class medical products at affordable price points, the statement added. Plans for scaling up the platoform include organic and inorganic acquisitions.

”The acquisition of Lotus Surgicals Pvt Ltd marks our entry into the med-tech business. We believe that the Indian medical industry is expected to be one of the fastest growing sectors driven by both demand and supply side factors,” TII executive chairman M A M Arunachalam said. ”We are delighted to join hands with Premji Invest. Our deep expertise in establishing and managing large-scale manufacturing, coupled with Premji Invest’s strong domain knowledge and investing experience, will enable Lotus to tap the immense potential in the med-tech business,” he added.

Premji Invest Chief Investment Officer T K Kurien said, ”TII has an outstanding track record of incubating and scaling businesses across diverse sectors and creating stakeholder value through manufacturing and execution excellence. ”Premji Invest is pleased to deepen its partnership with TII through its med-tech platform. There is a unique opportunity to create a global platform that manufactures and distributes world-class medical products by leveraging cutting-edge technologies,” he said. PTI