Yash Birla Group company Birla Shloka acquires Ojus Healthcare

Mumbai-based educational services firm Birla Shloka Edutech Ltd (BSEL), part of the Yash Birla Group, has acquired a majority stake in Bangalore's Ojus Healthcare Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount. BSEL bought 51.1 per cent stake in Ojus for 1,250,000 equity shares.

As per the deal, operations at Ojus will be jointly managed by BSEL and Ojus' promoters. Two BSEL officials – company secretary Vijay Mishra and head of operations Sunil Abraham – have also joined Ojus' board.

Commenting on the deal, N. Srikrishna, managing director of BSEL, said, "The acquisition of the e-governance firm will be a strategic fit for us and will further complement the bouquet of our educational services. The deal is expected to translate into additional revenues of Rs 20 crore, on account of Ojus' robust e-governance business."

Calls made to Ojus and an e-mail query sent to Ojus' co-founder Dr. G.S. Nayar regarding details of the deal failed to elicit any response till the time of posting the news.

Set up in 2001, Ojus Healthcare provides innovative IT solutions for e-governance and healthcare space. Ojus provides primary care to people from all walks of life, and currently owns and operates a chain of clinics in Karnataka and Kerala with focus on corporate, residential and school healthcare. It also provides Cytotron therapy, a state-of-the-art tissue engineering technology, for degenerative arthritis and advanced stages of cancer.

Ojus is also a part of the consortium led by ITI Ltd (an Indian government undertaking) and has been awarded the status of 'enrolment agency' by the UIDAI (Unified Identification Authority of India). Currently, the company is implementing UID (Aadhaar) projects in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala.

BSEL is a leading player in the field of educational services and provides ICT and multimedia solutions to government and private schools. It is also involved in the sales and services of various educational products.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)