GSK Velu exploring bid to buy back diagnostic chain Metropolis Helathcare: Report

Entrepreneur GSK Velu, founder and chairman of Neuberg Diagnostics, is reportedly exploring a bid for diagnostic chain Metropolis Healthcare, a company he once co-funded.

Velu's bid to buy it back comes seven years after he exited from the company following a tussle with the other co-founders, the Shah family.

According to a report by The Economic Times, Velu is in talks with several investors including two large private equity funds and half a dozen banking firms to raise money for his bid after Metropolis Chief Executive Ameera Shah and her family initiated the formal process to sell the promoter stake.

Velu is also the founder of Trivitron Healthcare Group and Maxivision Eye Hospitals.

“Velu is definitely exploring a bid, although it's still unclear whether he would be able to clinch the transaction. He is definitely looking to bid for the asset if the Shah family is completely exiting from the venture,” one of persons in the know told the publication.

The deal is said to be valued at approximately Rs 7,800 crore.

Apart from Velu, Amazon, Flipkart, and Adani-owned groups are also exploring bids for the chain, ET reported.

DH could not independently verify the report.

Founded by Dr Sushil Shah in 1980, Metropolis is a global chain of diagnostic companies with presence across India, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Velu had joined the Shah family in the late 1990s and exited after a boardroom battle.