The Rs 350 crore VLCC Group is planning an IPO by 2009. The money raised from this will be spent in the company's new ventures and expansion plans. The new businesses include the launch of VLCC Day Spa, which will be a separate business unit. The company has a food chain called 'Alive' with four outlets in Delhi. Following the IPO, the company plans to spend heavily on the expansion programme of Alive. Also, subsequent to the IPO, the slimming and beauty centers and spa will foray into the UK market. The company currently has three business lines slimming and beauty centers, personal and beauty care products and educational institutes. Slimming and beauty contributes about 60% to the overall revenue, followed by personal care at 25% and education centers, 15%. Speaking to FE, Vandana Luthra, founder and mentor, VLCC Group, said, "The IPO should happen sometime around July-August 2009. Six to seven months prior to that we would start moving very aggressively as we have to achieve our target of Rs 1,000 crore by the end of the next financial year. We have also got some investors on board like CLFA, and Indivision, and we strongly believe that people who are investing in our company should also make money."
The VLCC Day Spa will be more of a fusion spa that will emphasise both on de-stressing and weight loss. Alive stations or the food chain aims to dish out tailor-made menus. The food is healthy, albeit low in calorie. The a la carte could be Chinese, Lebanese, Italian, and one just needs to punch in the amount of calories and the station will present the tailor-made menu.
The company currently has about 120 slimming and beauty centers in India and there will be an additional 150-180 centers in the next one and a half years. There are around seven fitness centers in UAE and the company is planning to open another 28. The company has also started signing franchises for the slimming and beauty centers and by the end of 2009, there will be around 100 franchises. In the personal care business, the company has around 126 products, which are retailed through VLCC centers and also through multi-brand outlets. The products are also exported to Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and London. Currently, there are around 20 education centers and another 30 centers are coming up.
Source : financialexpress.com
