Shiv Nadar, Sanjay Kalra to buy US healthcare technology firms

HCL founder Shiv Nadar might join hands with tech industry veteran Sanjay Kalra to create a $500-milllion fund in order to acquire some matured healthcare firms in the US. The partnership might also invest in start-ups with disruptive solutions.

For the first time, Nadar, a 70-year-old Indian industrialist and philanthropist, has allocated his wealth towards private investment in the technology industry.

An Economic Times report has revealed that Kalra, a former top executive at HCL and Tech Mahindra, said that they have already started discussions with potential targets in the US.

"We are a group of operational executives with capital looking for buy-outs, carve-outs in the healthcare technology space in the US," Kalra, who is also the chairman of newly-set up Shiv Nadar & Sanjay Kalra Associates (SNSK), said in an interview.

This year, the overall healthcare spend in the US is estimated to hit $3.207 trillion. As per the CMS, with a population of 320 million, healthcare spending, for the first time ever, will be $10,000 per person.

"With all new changes in regulations, etc., suddenly a fresh industry is emerging. New IPs and software platforms are going to play a key role in this transformation," said Kalra.

Kalra also ensured that he along with Nadar will back the companies on the fund’s exit strategy in the longer run. "With just the two of us committed to the fund, this is patient capital not driven by the typical end of the fund cycles," he said.

Both the industrialists are attempting to tap the lucrative healthcare market in the US, which is going through a massive shift using newer technologies such as big data, analytics and more intelligent software platforms.
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