Max Healthcare stock rises 3% post stake sale by KKR

Shares of Max Healthcare Institute climbed nearly 3% in early trade on Tuesday, in sync with the broader market, after U.S.-based private equity firm KKR sold its entire 26.83% stake in the hospital chain and raised ₹9,416.50 crore through the transaction. The stake sale was executed by Kayak Investment, a KKR-affiliated entity, via a block deal.

On Tuesday, Max Healthcare share price opened 2.36% lower at ₹353, against Friday’s closing price of ₹361.55 on the BSE. However, the healthcare stock soon regained ground and rose as much as 2.97% to hit a high of ₹372.3, driven by huge volume. On the volume front, 2641.62 lakh shares changed hands over the counter as compared to the two-week average volume of 0.34 lakh scrips. In comparision, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 403 points higher at 59,865 levels, tracking firm cues from global peers.

As per the deal terms released on August 15, KKR proposed to sell a total of 26.7 crore shares it holds in Max Healthcare, at a price band of ₹350 to ₹362 a share, a discount of up to 3.3% on its Friday closing price.

In 2018, KKR acquired a shareholding in Max Healthcare through its affiliates Kayak Investment and Radiant at ₹80 per share. In the next two years, the private equity firm raised its stake in Max Healthcare to 47.24%, or 45.63 crore shares.

However, in September 2021, KKR-affiliate offloaded 8.44 crore shares in the company for ₹2,956 crore via open market transactions, which were purchased by SBI Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Veritas Funds Plc, and others.

In March 2022, KKR sold another 10% stake for around ₹3,300 crore, which was picked by SBI Mutual Fund, Pension Fund Global, and Smaller Cap World Fund.

As per the latest shareholding available on the BSE, promoter and promoter group owned 50.64% stake in Max Healthcare, while the rest were held by public shareholders. Among public shareholders, mutual funds own 19.21% stake in the company, while foreign portfolio investors held 23.34 shares.

Last week, Max Healthcare Institute approved the grant of 2,45,715 employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to the eligible employees of the company under ESOP-2020 scheme.

For the April-June quarter of 2022, Max Healthcare reported a consolidated net profit of ₹229 crore, up 12% from ₹205 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, on the back of annual price revision and normalisation of patient footfalls. Net revenue during the period under review rose to ₹1,393 crore as compared with ₹1,322 crore in Q1 FY22.