Exclusive: Healthcare unicorn Pristyn Care to acquire Lybrate

Tiger Global backed healthcare unicorn Pristyn Care is in late-stage conversations to acquire digital doctor and pathology test platform Lybrate, said three people aware of the transaction details.

“The two companies have been in talks for the past two months and Pristyn Care has given a term sheet to acquire Lybrate,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity.

According to sources, Tiger Global is a common investor in both companies and has played an important role in stitching this deal together. The acquisition will mark Pristyn Care’s entry into doctor and pathology consultation space.

The acquisition could also be noticed from a share purchase agreement executed between Pristyn Care, Lybrate Inc, Saurabh Arora and Rahul Narang. As per the agreement terms sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Pristyn Care has allotted partly paid compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) to Saurabh Arora (20,320) and Rahul Narang (10,160). Arora and Narag are co-founders at Lybrate and the collective worth of this allotment is around Rs 30 crore.

Gurugram-based Pristyn Care had raised $85 million in a Series E round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global in December. The three-year-old company follows a hybrid model where it sets up its own clinics and utilizes third-party hospital infrastructure to provide surgeries across 10 specialisations.

Backed by the likes of Ratan Tata, Tiger Global and Nexus Venture Partners, Lybrate had last raised $3 million from undisclosed investors in 2017. It has raised close to $15 million since its inception in 2014.

While the company didn’t raise any funding in the past five years, it appears to have prioritised sustainable growth and posted profits in FY20 and 21. For the year ending March 2021, Lybrate’s operating revenue shrank 32% to Rs 27.16 crore from Rs 39.94 crore in FY20, as per its annual financial statements filed with the RoC. Despite the drop in scale, the firm booked profits of Rs 3 crore during the year (FY21) which grew nearly 40% from Rs 2.13 crore in the preceding fiscal year (FY20).