The Twin Engines Propelling Medical Tourism

They followed entirely different paths to reach the zenith of their chosen fields. Yet, siblings, Dr. M I Sahadulla and E M Najeeb, were on the same page always when it came to building institutions together in the healthcare sector and beyond, to the admiration of peers. Today, even as they stand as business leaders striding many sectors, they still contribute immensely to the business domain of Kerala and thereby, to society at large without resting on their laurels. Here the duo finds time to share their story with Destination Kerala.

- Athul Lal A G

Twenty years ago, when Dr. M I Sahadulla and his brother E M Najeeb conceived the idea of a super specialty hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, 55 banks and financial institutions declined them loan raising questions about its financial viability. In March 2017, when Destination Kerala met Dr. Sahadulla and Najeeb for the interview, Kerala Institute for Medical Sciences (KIMS) had already zeroed in on its new private equity (PE) partner, who will invest $200 million in the Group.

True North (formerly India Value Fund Advisors) will hold around 40 per cent stake in KIMS India. The investment will be for acquiring the stakes held by Ascent Capital and OrbiMed Advisors, who had picked up shares in 2012. A consortium of TPG Capital Management and Singapore sovereign fund Temasek Holdings, and PremjiInvest, investment entity of tech billionaire Azim Premji, had also pitched for making the investment.

“The impeccable record of True North along with positive feedback from their existing portfolio companies gave us great confidence to partner with the firm. The capital infusion will be to fund our growth plans across India and the GCC,” said Dr. Sahadulla, Chairman and MD of KIMS Healthcare Group.

At present, KIMS Group has around 1800 beds across all its facilities in Kerala and Telangana, and 200 beds in its hospitals in the GCC. “We would like to increase this to 3000 beds by 2020, before we go public. Currently, we have close to 2750 employees at KIMS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. We have 600-plus doctors and around 5000 employees across our facilities in Kerala. Within three years, we will add 2000 more employees in Kerala and the total staff strength of the Group across India and the GCC will touch 10,000,” adds Najeeb, Executive Director of KIMS Healthcare Group and Chairman, Air Travel Enterprises (ATE) Group (ATE is one among 650 investors in KIMS).