Apollo Hospitals considers entering Sri Lanka again

NEW DELHI (PTI): Four years after exiting Sri Lanka after failing to stave off a hostile takeover from a local tycoon, Apollo Hospitals on Friday said it is reconsidering to enter the island nation’s hospital segment. 

“We are re-considering Sri Lanka now. Political situation is far more stable. So we are very happy to re-look at Sri Lanka,” Apollo Group Executive Director (Operations) Sangita Reddy said.

In 2006, Apollo Hospitals decided to sell its 30 per cent stake in Lanka Hospital Corporation -- owners of Apollo Sri Lanka -- to Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, which is owned by Harry Jayawardena, who launched a hostile takeover bid for control of the hospital.

Apollo was forced to take the step after two other minority shareholders, Sino-Lanka which had three per cent stake and R. Navaratnam, a key promoter of Apollo in Sri Lanka, who had five per cent, also sold out to the insurance company.

Reddy, however, did not elaborate whether the group will go alone or rope in a local partner to re-establish its hospital business in Sri Lanka.

She said the company is already offering its telemedicine services in Sri Lanka -- providing healthcare and consultative services to patients by using telecommunication technologies that allows transmission of information related to care over distance.

In India Apollo has 120 such telemedicine centres, and besides Sri Lanka it also offer the services in Bangladesh, Africa and the Middle East, Reddy added.