Pharmacy retail chain MedPlus plans entry into Mumbai in next 3 months

Medplus has its largest presence in South India and is now expanding in western region with stores in Pune and Nagpur

Pharmacy chain MedPlus, which recently raised Rs 200 crore from Wipro Chairman Azim Premji's family office, Premji Invest, will enter the Mumbai market within the next three months.

Founded by doctor-turned-entrepreneur Madhukar Gangadi, MedPlus is the country's second largest pharmacy chain with around 1,700 stores. It has its largest presence in South India and is now expanding into the western region with stores in Pune and Nagpur.

"Each year we open around 100-150 stores. We plan to launch in Mumbai within the next three months as part of the expansion," Gangadi said. He added that the company aims to have 30-40 stores in Mumbai and added the chain was not looking at acquisitions for growth.

Gangadi said his company has been able to face the challenge from e-pharmacies as it has a better value proposition in both drug availability and discounts. He, however acknowledged margins were under pressure due to higher discounts this year.

"We aim to end the current financial year with a revenue of Rs 2,700-2,800 crore and an earning before interest tax and depreciation of aound Rs 70-75 crore. We have an omni-channel presence and get around 17 per cent of our business from our online platform," he added. MedPlus, which began with a single store in Hyderabad in 2006, operates a hub-and-spoke model with its own warehouses serving as stores.

Last year, Gangadi raised around Rs 700 crore from Goldman Sachs to buy out existing private equity investors, a media report had said. US e-commerce giant Amazon had shown interest in picking up a stake in the company last year but Gangadi said there was no serious discussion with it for a stake sale.