INDIA BUSINESS WORLD SEPTEMBER (1^st - 15^th) 2007
The Month that was ...

APOLLO HEALTH ACQUIRES ATLANTA BPO FOR $170 MN

Apollo Health Street (AHS), the BPO arm of Apollo Group of Hospitals, has acquired Zavata, an Atlanta-based BPO which operates in the same segment, for $170 mn. This synergistic acquisition is not only expected to strengthen AHS' presence in the US market, but is also going to bring in specialised skill-sets, adding value to the company's existing portfolio.

Apollo Hospitals group executive chairman Prathap C Reddy said that "this acquisition will make Apollo Health Street the largest global healthcare BPO company". The acquisition is to be funded through a combination of debt and equity, broken into $120 million of debt and $50 million equity. Barclays Capital and Bank of India, the funding agencies for the acquisition, have offered an optional draw-out of $140 mn (including $8 mn refinancing portion of an earlier debt) to the company, including the debt component of this deal. The balance funding will come through internal accruals, Pratap Reddy said. Of $50 mn equity, the Apollo Group will invest $25 million while private equity investors - JP Morgan's investment arm One Equity Partners and Temasek Holdings - will fund the rest. According to AHS CEO Andrew DeVoe, the valuation of Zavata was put at 10 times its EBIDTA.