The Hindu Business Line : VLCC plans to grow big

VANDANA Luthra's VLCC said on Wednesday that it has received $10 million (Rs 45.9 crore) as investment from a fund managed by the Hong Kong-based CLSA Private Equity Ltd to finance business expansion. It also said it planned to go public over the next two-three years.

CLSA specialises in private equity investment in Asia and will invest in Curls and Curves India (CCIL), the holding company that manages the VLCC brand of businesses. These include a chain of slimming, beauty and fitness centres, manufacturing and marketing of personal care products and management of educational institutes for beauty, health and management.

The investment proceeds will largely be used to fund expansion of VLCC centres in India as well as abroad, besides developing the company's subsidiary - VLCC Personal Care Ltd.

Apart from targeting 35 new slimming centres in the domestic market this year, the company also hopes to go international. It plans to forge a 49:51 joint venture in the UAE to and then take the VLCC brand to other parts of the Middle East and Britain.

"VLCC has set itself ambitious targets. We plan to be a 100 centres strong company by the end of this financial year with a foray in international markets. Also on the cards this year is a triple digit turnover figure. Overall, CLSA's investment in our company would help us achieve this rapid growth and targets ahead of time," the Managing Director, Mr Mukesh Luthra, told reporters. He said the company planned to launch an initial public offer in two-three years.

The Chief Financial Officer, Mr Kuldeep Luthra, said CLSA would be issued preferential shares for their investment in VLCC over the next two-three years. This will be converted into equity before the company goes in for an IPO.

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