 "US co PerkinElmer looking for acquisition in India")
US-based PerkinElmer, a global leader in the prenatal and neonatal diagnostics business, is looking at acquisition in India to grow in terms of scale, as part of the company's plans to expand its presence in the country. The company opened a new diagnostics facility in Chennai, to cater to the pregnant women and new born children in the country.
"We are looking at acquisition opportunity in this market to expand our local presence. It would be an acquisition for scale and a platform which would not only help us in growing in India, but also in the other parts of the country," said Prahlad Singh, president, diagnostics, PerkinElmer, Inc.
The company would be looking at target entities which has strength in channel, R&D capability and manufacturing capability. While he said that the acquisition, which is the first for the company in India, would be in the diagnostics space, he did not comment on the size of acquisition the company is looking at. Plans are to look for potential companies in 18-24 months. If it could not finalise an acquisition, the company would look at setting up its own manufacturing facility in the country.
The company has been focusing in India in the recent past and has increased its head count in the country. India will be one of the top three markets where the company would invest in for strategic growth, he said. He said that the company see growth opportunity in India and China and the strategy in China is also the similar, though it has started acquisition and expansion there a little early.
The laboratory launched today will provide a comprehensive diagnostic screening services to hospitals, maternity nursing facilities, diagnostics labs and clinicancs through out India. It would also look at catering to the neighbouring countries after looking at the regulations related to transporting blood samples and others.
The company claims to be the largest player in the screening of children in their prebirth and new born stages. The opportunity in India is huge, considering that there are around 29 million pregnancy and 26 million births taking place in India and only around four to five lakh are going through these screenings. The company globally works with the governments, healthcare organisations and non government organisations to spread awareness, as there are around 135 million babies born in the world and only 35-37 million babies are going through screening tests.
Apart from healthcare, the company offers instrumentation and services to pharmaceuticals, food and chemicals industries and academic and research initiatives, said Jayashree Thacker, president, PerkinElmer (India) Pvt Ltd. The company currently has around 6,000 customers in India and around 350 employees, of which around 60-65 are in the laboratory.