VLCC sets sights on three mid-sized firms for takeover

Health and wellness firm Vandana Luthra Curls and Curves (VLCC) plans to invest Rs400 crore to fund expansion and acquisition of three small-sized companies, according to a top company official.

According to VLCC's managing director Sandeep Ahuja, the company would invest Rs400 crore for expansion of its operations and for some major acquisitions, of which Rs100 crore will go towards funding two acquisitions, a news agency reported quoting Ahuja.

The company has identified a chain in South India in addition to two medium-sized wellness chains in the Middle-East as potential acquisition targets, Ahuja said without further elaboration.

VLCC has also identified a mid-sized beauty firm in South India for possible takeover, which would possibly be funded through internal accruals and debt, Ahuja said.

VLCC will hit the capital market with the launch of a Rs1,000 crore IPO over the next one and half years ahead of launching Nutri-Diet Clinics (NDC's), opening 75 new centres, as part of its medium-term expansion process.

He added that the company would open 100 NDCs across the country with a total investment of Rs25 crore, the first of which would be launched in New Delhi on 18 January. The investment per clinic is estimated at about Rs25 lakh.