BENGALURU, March 24 (Reuters) - India's Manipal Health

Enterprises will raise $852.2 million in a fresh issue for its

initial public offering, betting on rising demand for speciality

care even as the domestic equities market navigates volatility

amid fragile global sentiment.

The hospital chain's existing investors, including

Singapore's Temasek, U.S. investment firm TPG, Manipal

Education and Novo Holdings, also plan to sell 43.2 million

shares, according to the draft prospectus it filed on Tuesday.

The Bengaluru-based company did not specify details about

the size of the IPO.

Demand for specialised healthcare has surged in the world's

most populous country and is a key driver of growth, analysts

say,that is increasingly attracting private and foreign

investment from firms such as Blackstone, Novo Nordisk

and KKR.

Manipal's nearest rival in the listed space, Apollo

Hospitals, said revenue from complex care such as

cardiology, oncology, neurology, gastroenterology and

orthopedics rose 22.6% in the December 2025 quarter,

underpinning the rising preference for advanced medical care and

specialised amenities.

As of September 30, the healthcare arm of the

education-to-insurance conglomerate had about 12,367 operational

beds, while Apollo - with a market value of about 1.02 trillion

rupees ($10.88 billion) - has nearly 10,000 beds and targets

13,000 beds by fiscal 2030.

For the six months to September 2025, Manipal Health posted

a consolidated net profit of 5.61 billion rupees and revenue of

47.13 billion rupees.

The company, which has been among the country's most

aggressive healthcare consolidators in recent years, says it

plans to use IPO proceeds to repay debt and to fund its

acquisition of Sahyadri Hospitals, which it bought for $700

million.

However, its IPO plans come amid a sharp slump in India's

equities market, with global risk-off sentiment, tightening

liquidity and sustained foreign outflows weighing.

Foreign investors have pulled out over $11.65 billion from

Indian stocks so far in 2026, including more than $10.17 billion

in March alone, according to depository data.

($1 = 93.7490 Indian rupees)