MedPlus Health Services files for IPO

Hyderabad based pharmacy retail chain MedPlus Health Services on Tuesday said that it has filed preliminary papers for a Rs 1,639 crore ($220 million) initial public offering (IPO). 

The IPO, which will see PremjiInvest sell shares, comprises a fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 600 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of equity up to Rs 1,038.7 crore by promoter and shareholders.  

In the OFS, Lone Furrow Investments will sell shares aggregating up to Rs 450 crore, PremjiInvest will sell equity worth up to Rs 500 crore and others will offload shares aggregating up to Rs 88.71 crore. The offer will include a reservation of shares for employees.  

Read: Warburg Pincus, PremjiInvest back pharmacy chain MedPlus 

Proceeds of the fresh issue will be used for funding the working capital requirements of the subsidiary Optival. MedPlus was founded in 2006 by Gangadi Madhukar Reddy who is managing director and chief executive officer. 

Medplus offers a wide range of products including pharmaceutical and wellness products such as medicines, vitamins, medical devices and test kits, and FMCG products such as home and personal care products including toiletries, baby care products, soaps and detergents and sanitisers.  

MedPlus was also the first pharmacy retailer in India to offer an omni-channel platform and continues to scale up its retail store network.

The company maintains a strong focus on scaling up its store network, having grown from operating 48 stores in Hyderabad to operating India's second largest pharmacy retail network of over 2,000 stores distributed across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra as of March 31, 2021.  

Axis Capital, Credit Suisse Securities (India), Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) and Edelweiss Financial Services have been appointed as merchant bankers on the IPO. The equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.