How a 15-min chat stretched for 3 hours resulting in a historic deal

Last month, API Holdings, the parent company of the healthtech unicorn, acquired a 66.1 percent stake in Thyrocare from Dr A Velumani and affiliates at a price of Rs 1,300 per share, aggregating to Rs 4,546 crore.

Friday July 02, 2021 , 4 min Read

For PharmEasy, sealing the deal with Thyrocare was no cakewalk.

Last month, API Holdings, the parent company of the healthtech unicorn, acquired a 66.1 percent stake in Thyrocare from Dr A Velumani and affiliates at a price of Rs 1,300 per share, aggregating to Rs 4,546 crore.

The acquisition made history as it marked the first time a publicly-listed company was acquired by a unicorn, and the team worked day and night to achieve this feat.

In an interaction with YourStory, Siddharth Shah, Co-founder and CEO, PharmEasy, tells how a 15-minute chat with Dr A Velumani, Founder of Thyrocare, turned into a three-hour discussion ending in cementing the deal — and they had to close it in a matter of just a month.

"And Dr Velumani was telling me what we had done in 8 years and 11 months, we have to do that same amount in a month. And I don’t know what got into me. I said the deal will be done by June 30,” says Siddharth.

The Thyrocare deal is significant as it comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has made people pay attention to their health.

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