Some of the biggest buyout funds KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR), The Carlyle Group Inc. (NasdaqGS:CG), EQT AB (publ) (OM:EQT), Hillhouse Investment Management, Ltd. and TA Associates Management, L.P are competing against each other to buy out Healthium Medtech Limited, the homegrown surgical sutures manufacturer, also the manufacturer of surgical needles globally by volume, in what is turning out to be the fiercest bidding process of the year.