CCI Approves Acquisition of Apollo Fertility Centre, Specialty Hospitals by Kids Clinic India

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved a proposed combination involving Kids Clinic India Ltd. (KCIL), Apollo Fertility Centre Pvt. Ltd. (AFCPL), Apollo Specialty Hospitals Pvt. Ltd. (ASHPL), Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL), and Arvon Investments Pte. Ltd. (Arvon). 

The proposed combination comprises three key transactions: 

• Acquisition of Apollo entities: KCIL will acquire up to 100% equity shareholding of AFCPL and 100% equity shareholding of ASHPL.
• Share issuance to AHLL: KCIL will issue equity shares and optionally convertible debentures representing 9.9% shareholding in KCIL on a fully diluted basis to AHLL as part consideration for the Apollo acquisition.
• Investment by Arvon: KCIL will issue certain equity shareholding to Arvon as part of the proposed investment. 

Businesses Involved 

KCIL is a public limited company operating super-specialty hospital chains under the ‘Cloudnine’ brand. Its operations focus on mother and baby care, including maternity, gynaecology, paediatrics and fertility. It operates centres across Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Chandigarh. 

AHLL operates primary care clinics and diagnostic services. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (AHEL) holds 100% equity shareholding in AHLL. AHEL is a publicly listed company, with its promoter group holding 28.02% and public shareholders holding 71.98%. 

Apollo Fertility and Specialty Hospitals 

AFCPL, entirely held by AHLL, operates fertility clinics under the Apollo Group and provides assisted reproductive treatments and reproductive medicine, including IVF, embryo freezing and genetic testing. ASHPL had three business segments: Cradle, Fertility and Spectra, until June 2024.