Keeping an eye on ayurvedic healthcare market, the Yash Birla group is all set to buy out its partner’s stake in the joint venture company Birla Kerala Vaidyashala. Harshjeet Kurup and family, original promoters of Kerala Vaidyashala, have agreed to sell out their 49 per cent stake in Birla Kerala Vaidyashala in favour of the engineering-to-education conglomerate, according to P.V.R. Murthy, Group Finance Director, Yash Birla Group.
Birla Kerala Vaidyashala was formed as a 51:49 joint venture between the Rs 3,000-crore Yash Birla Group and the promoters of Kerala Vaidyashala, with its network of 30 ayurvedic therapy centres, in 2009. BKV has a target of increasing the number of outlets to 200 by 2015. It also has ambitious plans of launching its medi-spas in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.
As part of the exit transaction, the Yash Birla group will pay “under a million dollars” to the Kurup family, Murthy told media. “Though Harshjeet Kurup will cease to be the Managing Director of the company, he will continue to be an advisor to the board of directors. We expect to ink the transaction in the next few days,” said Murthy.
Birla Kerala Vaidyashala has been categorised under the wellness and healthcare vertical by the Yash Birla Group. N. Venkat, who was recently appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for this vertical, will oversee operations of Birla Kerala Vaidyashala for now.
It is estimated that 20 percent of tourists who flock Kerala, one of the states where ayurveda is widely practised, also visit an ayurvedic spa. The market size for ayurveda healthcare in India is about $1.4 billion and is expected to grow at about 20 percent annually for the next five years
Source: Business Line
