Listing can happen in 18-24 months, says Manipal Education's Ranjan Pai

Our focus right now is to complete the transaction and the integration, said Pai

Ranjan Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group, has been looking for a strategic acquisition to expand the scale of his health care empire. Speaking to Sohini Das, Pai says the acquisition of Columbia Asia would have been announced in March, if not for the pandemic. Edited excerpts:

With this acquisition, will you look at a listing on the bourses soon?

We are large enough to hit the capital markets even now. We firmly believe that in India there is still a long way to go in terms of markets caps and sizes. As of now we remain private