Mid-market private equity firm Lighthouse has reinvested in medical devices maker Poly Medicure Ltd as part of a larger institutional fundraising that saw Abu Dhabi Investment Authority join the company’s capital table.

Lighthouse put in an additional Rs 62 crore ($8.5 million) to take its holding to 3.7%, it is learnt. Late last year, the PE firm had picked up around 1.9% stake in Poly Medicure for around Rs 85 crore ($12 million). It is believed to have separately invested Rs 30-35 crore more through the secondary market route in the past few weeks.

Lighthouse, which focuses on consumer-centric sectors, participated via its third fund. The vehicle had hit final close last year, scooping up $250 million.

The PE firm took part in a qualified institutional placement (QIP) by Poly Medicure that raised Rs 400 crore in total. While a fund managed by US-based Capital International put in a little over Rs 100 crore to lead the funding, other prominent investors included ADIA, the sovereign fund of the Abu Dhabi emirate.

ADIA picked up just under 1% stake in the company through the QIP issue, which closed on Thursday. It committed Rs 38 crore in the issue.

Poly Medicure is also known as Polymed Medical Devices. It makes devices for respiratory care, surgery, oncology, urology, anaesthesia and dialysis. It has five plants in India and overseas units in China, Italy and Egypt.

The company derives over two-thirds of its revenue from exports. In India, the market for medical devices is dominated by multinational companies. However, Polymed is one of the largest local players and enjoys higher margins compared to its peers such as Trivitron Healthcare and Sahajanand Medical.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2020, Poly Medicare had net revenue of Rs 573 crore. This is up 10% from a year earlier. Its net profit rose 30% for the same period to Rs 97 crore.

(As published in The Capital Quest February 19, 2021 )