Metropolis Health Services (India) Ltd, the Mumbai-based diagnostics services major, is planning to invest Rs 25 crore to expand its operations in India and abroad. As per this plan, the company will be setting up five to 10 laboratories and at least 100 collection centres in India and overseas during the current year. Metropolis already has 55 labs and 300 collection centres offering diagnostics services throughout the world.

The company is in the final stage of acquisition of a laboratory in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The acquisition will be completed within two to three months, informed Ameera Patel, executive director, Metropolis Health Services Ltd. Further, the company is planning to increase its presence in South Africa and to set up operations in Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia in near future, she added.

"Our strategy is to use both organic and inorganic ways to leverage the market opportunities. We are currently in talks with around 20 companies for acquisition and partnering and expectations are to rope in at least five to six of these firms in near future. We have set apart Rs 20 crore for our operations in the current financial year for both domestic and overseas expansions," commented Patel. Though the company has funding agreement with ICICI Venture, the induction of the investment will be from internal accruals.

Metropolis has 10 labs in various countries including South Africa, Middle East and Seychelles. While the operations will be expanded at Dubai, Sharja and Ras al-Khaima Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia, the number of collection centres in South Africa will be increased from 10 to 150 shortly.

At present, it has two labs at Cape Town and Johannasburg in South Africa. Earlier, the company has formed a joint venture with the ETA Group of UAE to open laboratories offering specialised pathology tests. The company also handles seven laboratories in Sri Lanka. Apart, Metropolis is also actively looking at setting up operations in East Africa.

The company has recently acquired two labs in Bihar after acquiring a majority stake in Bangalore based R V Diagnostic Laboratory. Metropolis has made almost 13 acquisitions in the past four years. Apart, the company is also offering new test methods for diagnosis of known diseases. The Rs 175 crore (unaudited figure) Metropolis has been recording a compound annual growth rate of 40 to 50 per cent in the past few years.