Pathlab chain Metropolis plans IPO
The IPO will open an avenue for private equity PE fund Carlyle Group, which holds about 30 per cent stake in the company, to part exit its investment.
- Jul 31, 2018,
- Updated Jul 31, 2018 8:20 PM IST
Metropolis, one of the largest pathology laboratory chains in the country, is likely to go for an initial public offer (IPO) soon and list on Indian bourses, said sources. Though the company has initiated the process for filing the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), it has not decided the quantum of funds to be raised from the market.
The IPO will open an avenue for private equity PE fund Carlyle Group, which holds about 30 percent stake in the company, to part exit its investment. Metropolis, with over 170 laboratories, 5,000 employees and handling 15 million samples across seven countries, is currently valued at about Rs 6,500 crore, they said.
Ameera Shah, promoter and Managing Director of Metropolis declined to comment on the IPO plans. In the highly fragmented Rs 25,000 crore Indian diagnostic industry, growing at 10 percent a year, pan-India organized chains are SRL Diagnostics, Dr Lal PathLabs, Metropolis and Thyrocare. These chains control about 15 percent or Rs 3,000 crore of the market. In December 2015, Dr Lal PathLabs had raised Rs 630 crore from the market through its IPO. Four months later, Thyrocare also got listed on the Indian stock exchanges.
Metropolis was started as Sushil Shah's Laboratory in Mumbai and renamed Metropolis in 2002, after G.S.K. Velu, a Chennai based serial entrepreneur, joined as a 50:50 joint venture partner. In 2006, Metropolis raised private equity (PE) capital from ICICI Ventures. Four years later, Warburg Pincus bought out ICICI's stake and a few percentage stake from the promoters, valuing the firm at Rs 600 crore. By 2009, Velu moved into a non-executive role from that of managing director and Sushil Shah's daughter Ameera Shah became the managing director.
In 2015, Ameera Shah bought out Warburg's 27 percent stake with the backing of PE firm KKR, raising the Shah family's stake in the company to 63 percent from 36 percent. Simultaneously, PE fund Carlyle Group had acquired Velu's stake for an estimated Rs 600-800 crore.
Metropolis, one of the largest pathology laboratory chains in the country, is likely to go for an initial public offer (IPO) soon and list on Indian bourses, said sources. Though the company has initiated the process for filing the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), it has not decided the quantum of funds to be raised from the market.
The IPO will open an avenue for private equity PE fund Carlyle Group, which holds about 30 percent stake in the company, to part exit its investment. Metropolis, with over 170 laboratories, 5,000 employees and handling 15 million samples across seven countries, is currently valued at about Rs 6,500 crore, they said.
Ameera Shah, promoter and Managing Director of Metropolis declined to comment on the IPO plans. In the highly fragmented Rs 25,000 crore Indian diagnostic industry, growing at 10 percent a year, pan-India organized chains are SRL Diagnostics, Dr Lal PathLabs, Metropolis and Thyrocare. These chains control about 15 percent or Rs 3,000 crore of the market. In December 2015, Dr Lal PathLabs had raised Rs 630 crore from the market through its IPO. Four months later, Thyrocare also got listed on the Indian stock exchanges.
Metropolis was started as Sushil Shah's Laboratory in Mumbai and renamed Metropolis in 2002, after G.S.K. Velu, a Chennai based serial entrepreneur, joined as a 50:50 joint venture partner. In 2006, Metropolis raised private equity (PE) capital from ICICI Ventures. Four years later, Warburg Pincus bought out ICICI's stake and a few percentage stake from the promoters, valuing the firm at Rs 600 crore. By 2009, Velu moved into a non-executive role from that of managing director and Sushil Shah's daughter Ameera Shah became the managing director.
In 2015, Ameera Shah bought out Warburg's 27 percent stake with the backing of PE firm KKR, raising the Shah family's stake in the company to 63 percent from 36 percent. Simultaneously, PE fund Carlyle Group had acquired Velu's stake for an estimated Rs 600-800 crore.