I was reading about this company recently and just went about a background check on the promoter and the company through publicly available information. There is not too much out there but from what little I could gather we can see some points on how the company and the promoter has evolved from 2006 when the first stores came up
Promoter
The promoter has invested in other verticals in the past as well. In 2008 he had a failed start in apparel retail. In 2011 he launched something similar to Nykaa in online beauty retail. In 2014 he launched a venture in online furnishing space after raising funds from multiple investors. He comes off as a serial entrepreneur who wants to build businesses and then sell at a higher valuation considering one person cannot manage so many entities.
The business model has not grown with one model. Earlier in 2016 they were open to giving franchisees. In fact in one interview the promoter mentions that the franchise route will help them scale up to 10000 stores by 2019. This was in 2016. However by 2021 they had decided that they will open their own stores and were closing down the remaining franchisee as well post the IPO. The reason given was low margins in the business which will not allow them to make money.
The company has also recently gone full throttle on its own private label as well while partnering with two other listed entities namely Akums and Windlass for manufacturing MedPlus branded medicine which will be sold in its own store under the “MedPlus” brand so there seems to be a pivot from opening as many stores as possible to now serving own label products in the existing 4500 odd stores
There have been talks of sale of the whole business as well two times before the IPO where the promoter and other investors have offered shares for sale but the reason given has been valuation mismatches which is why the sale has fallen through. This along with the promoter starting other ventures though small, gives an impression that promoter might not be involved in the business for a long time
There were thoughts on raising more capital recently as well with the company passing an enabling resolution for a QIP but those seem to be on a hold for now going by the recent communication. Noticeably store openings have taken a back seat while diagnostics too seem to be a Hyderabad only play for now
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