The Padma Shri awardee, who previously headed the ophthalmology department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told ET that he would be among the few entrepreneurs in this sector to remain in control of his company after private equity investors swamped the space announcing a slew of investments in the past 24 months.
“We are the only funded player where the promoters have retained a controlling stake in the company,” Sachdev said after the announcement of the deal.
As per the deal announced on Tuesday, the money invested by ChrysCapital will be used to provide an exit to Mahindra & Mahindra that held over 30% stake in Centre for Sight and also for the company’s expansion plans.
“We are present in most states in India with the exception of three southern states and north east India. We could add about half-a-dozen greenfield and brownfield centres each to the existing set up,” he said. Centre for Sight currently operates 83 eye hospitals across India.
Sachdev’s competitors have raised significant amounts of capital from private equity funds, who are funding eye care chains with a view to trigger consolidation in the sector, which has traditionally been dominated by family-run clinics. There is an exponential growth in demand for surgeries for cataract removal and vision correction in India, underlining the exuberance of investors.Dr. Agarwal’s, which is promoted by AdilAgarwal, who is also an ophthalmologist, raised Rs 1,600 crore from TPG and Temasek over two rounds of investments in the past 24 months. The company was valued at Rs 6,000 crore when the last round of investment took place. It is planning an initial public offering of shares.ASG Eye Hospitals promoted by Arun Singhvi, who is also an ophthalmologist, raised Rs 1,500 crore from KedaaraCapital and General Atlantic in June 2022. Maxivision, another pan-India chain, raised Rs 1,300 crore from QuadriaCapital in July last year.
