The deal would add 14 IVF clinics in India and the UAE to IVI RMA’s portfolio, but has yet to be independently verified
BY RON SHINKMAN
IVI RMA is closing in on a deal to acquire ART Fertility Clinics in India for between $400 and $450 million, a transaction that will draw private equity further into reproductive medicine outside of the United States.
The deal is expected to close by the end of June, according to the Economic Times. News of the pending transaction has not been reported elsewhere, and one expert on M&A in the fertility space was unaware of any pending sale.
KKR’s Involvement
The Spanish-based IVI RMA is backed by KKR, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. KKR acquired an 80% stake in IVI RMA back in 2023. That deal, valued at nearly $3.3 billion, is the largest to date in the reproductive medicine space.
Officials with both IVI RMA and KKR did not respond to requests seeking comment.
ART operates 14 clinics in total, including 11 in India and three in the United Arab Emirates, where the company was originally founded a decade ago. ART’s current owner Gulf Capital invested $30 million for ART to expand into India back in 2021.
According to the Economic Times, ART has annual revenue in the $100 million range. The opportunities for it to grow further seem significant, given India’s population of more than 1 billion, a growing middle class and the fact that market penetration for reproductive health services remains shallow. The Economic Times noted that the IVF rate in India is 210 cases per 1 million population, about one-tenth the utilization rate in Europe and about one-sixth the rate in the U.S.
According to Grand View Research, India’s IVF market was worth an estimated $1 billion in 2023, and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.8% through 2030. Although India’s market value for IVF is still a fraction of that in the U.S., its compounded annual growth rate is more than 50% faster, based on a report on the U.S. market from Dimension Market Research.
Private Equity Presence Growing in India’s IVF Market
The Indian market also has numerous IVF clinic networks backed by private equity firms. In 2023, the BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII acquired a majority stake in Indira IVF, at the time the largest IVF provider in India providing about 300,000 cycles annually. The Economic Times valued that deal at around $1.1 billion.
Nova IVF Fertility, another large chain of clinics in India, has financial backing from Asia Healthcare Holdings.
If completed, the transaction would mark a return to the fold for ART. It was at one time the Middle East division of IVI RMA. However, it was sold in 2020 to Gulf Capital, which rebranded it under the ART name.
