Thyrocare Technologies shares fall 6.5% after stake sale to PharmEasy

The acquirer has also launched an open offer to buy a 26 percent stake in Thyrocare. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals. The price for the open offer has also been fixed at Rs 1,300 per share.

Currently, A Velumani holds 66.14 percent in Thyrocare. Velumani will separately acquire a minority stake of less than five percent in API Holdings.

It is the third big-ticket transaction involving an e-pharmacy company — Tata Digital Ltd acquired a majority stake in 1MG Technologies; Reliance Industries invested Rs 620 crore in Chennai-based Netmeds, and late last month, PharmEasy announced the acquisition of Medlife.

While talking to CNBC-TV18 on the dynamics of the deal, Siddharth Shah, co-founder and CEO of API Holdings said, “Thyrocare has an outstanding backend and they are leaders in cost control. PharmEasy is the leader in technology services today for healthcare in India. They will be a complete digital-led holistic healthcare platform in India. I believe that 70 percent of India's population can now be covered with either a medicine or a test with a turnaround time of less than 24 hours with world-class technology and world-class service coming to your doorstep.”

He further noted that API Holdings is planning an IPO in 12-18 months and this acquisition will beef up their portfolio ahead of the listing.