GE Healthcare looks at acquisitions in India

19 February 2009

GE Healthcare South Asia, the Indian arm of  healthcare equipment major GE Healtcare, is looking at acquisitions in the country in order to meet its annual growth target of 13-14 per cent.

"We have an appetite for acquisitions and would not look so much at revenues but rather at the technology that we stand to gain. But we are definitely open to look at companies that are ready to enter into a wedlock with us," GE president and CEO (South Asia) V Raja said.

Headquartered in Chalfont St Giles, UK, the $17 billion GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company of the US.

While Raja did not specify companies that his company is targeting, he said India is generally considered a growth market for GE Healthcare.

With revenues of $500 billion in 2008, India currently accounts for less than two per cent of GE Healtcare's global revenues.

"There is a large market here and as the government increases its focus on the healthcare segment, a lot of opportunities are coming up," he said adding that despite the slump in the market, the company's growth will be in double digits.