Tata Digital to acquire majority stake in online healthcare, 1MG Technologies

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Tata Digital Ltd, a wholly-owned arm of Tata Sons, on Thursday said it will acquire a majority stake in 1MG Technologies Ltd, an online healthcare marketplace.

The company, however, did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.

Just days after the company said it will invest $75 million (around Rs 550 crore) in fitness-focused Curefit Healthcare for an undisclosed stake, Tata Digital said its investment in 1MG is in line with Tata Group’s vision of creating a digital ecosystem which addresses the consumer needs across categories in a unified manner.

Tata Digital said e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics and tele-consultation are critical segments in this ecosystem and have been among the fastest growing segments in this space, as this sector enabled access to healthcare through the pandemic.

The overall market is around $1 billion and is expected to grow at around 50 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) driven by increased health awareness among consumers and greater convenience. This category will form a key element of the Tata Digital ecosystem offering.

“The investment in 1MG strengthens Tata’s ability to provide superior customer experience and high quality healthcare products & services in the e-pharmacy and e-diagnostics space through a technology-led platform,” Tata Digital CEO Pratik Pal said in a statement.

1MG Co-founder and CEO Prashant Tandon said, the investment by the Tatas “marks a significant milestone in 1MG’s journey to make high-quality healthcare products and services accessible to customers across India.”

Started in 2015, 1MG is among the leading players in the eHealth space and enables easy and affordable access to a wide range of products like medicines, health and wellness products, diagnostics services and tele-consultation to customers.

The company currently operates three state-of-the-art diagnostic labs, has a supply chain covering over 20,000 pincodes across the country and through its subsidiaries is also engaged in the business of B2B distribution of medicines & other healthcare products, the statement said.

On Monday, Tata Digital had announced that it would invest $75 million (around Rs 550 crore) in fitness-focused Curefit Healthcare for an undisclosed stake.

Curefit’s founder and chief executive Mukesh Bansal will join Tata Digital in an executive role as its president, an official statement had said, adding will continue in his leadership role at Curefit as well.

The salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group has been on an acquisition spree in the e-commerce space. Last month it had acquired a majority stake in online grocery seller BigBasket for an undisclosed sum of money, pitting it against the likes of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance and Amazon.

The deal would pit the salt-to-software conglomerate against Ambani’s JioMart, Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart for a pie of the online grocery business that has grown exponentially during the pandemic.

About half of India’s $1 trillion-retail market comprises grocery sales. The online grocery market is expected to reach $4.3 billion in 2021 from $2.9 billion in the previous year.