Mumbai-based Dr Batra’s Positive Health Clinic Private Limited, a chain of homeopathic healthcare clinics, is planning to raise Rs 100-crore private equity investment by this year for expansion.
“We are now a zero-debt company and have grown through internal accruals. We have started discussions with a few PE players, which will be strategic investors, from both India as well as abroad, and will finalise the deal in one to two months,” Mukesh Batra, chairman of Dr Batra’s Positive Health Clinic, said.
The PE investment will be used for three purposes - to expand the distribution network of its branded homeopathic healthcare products; to expand its hair transplant clinics B-perfect across the country; and for mergers and acquisitions, he added.
The company is looking at acquiring smaller homeopathic players with around three outlets or even mini-day care units from across the country.
To expand its distribution network for its portfolio of 16 products and its hair and skin care products, the company has tied up with Health & Glow, Spar, Big Baazar as distribution channels. “Our products will now be available across 711 Big Baazar stores,” he said.
It has plans to add 24 clinic to its chain of 94 company-owned clinics across India, Dubai and the UK by the end of this financial year, and add 30-40 clinics each year over the next five years. Besides, it has plans to add two international clinics in Dubai and Australia.
Dr Batra’s is looking at taking the franchisee route across Tier-II and III cities in India, including Vijayawada, Guntur, Mysore, Kodagu, Jammu, Jodhpur, Nashik, Puducherry and Bubhaneswar.
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“We have already received 90 applications from which we will select 35 franchisees by March 2013,” he said.
The company is aiming to more than double its turnover from the present Rs 100 crore by 2015, he added. On its IPO plans, Batra said, “Eventually, IPO will happen. The company may go public in three years down the line.”