Vangal hikes AyurvedaGram stake to 74%

BANGALORE: Serial entrepreneur Ramesh Vangal, who acquired Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy (KAPL), is beginning to unfurl the healthcare play. He has acquired majority stake in AyurvedaGram, a health resort and spa located near Bangalore, by hiking holding to 74% from 15% he held earlier.

This consolidation, which makes the resort and spa a KAPL subsidiary, is a strategic move, as Mr Vangal could be looking at expanding the AyurvedaGram network within and outside the country, said informed sources.

Mr Vangal’s Katra Group tookover KAPL earlier this year, and is expected to leverage on the latter’s 75 year-old ayurveda heritage for catapulting it to the next level of growth. Arun Kumar and D Natesan, the two other existing investors, will together hold 26% in AyurvedaGram after diluting majority holdings in favour of KAPL.

The details of the financial transaction were not available. AyurvedaGram, located on a 10-acre plot at Whitefield, reports annualised revenue of Rs 2.5 crore currently. The Vangal-controlled KAPL is now expected to work on expanding AyurvedaGram with a positioning of offering “authentic ayurveda within city limits.”

KAPL, with revenue of Rs 12-13 crore, is an integrated player in the ayurvedic system of medicine with hospitals, clinics and marketed medicines and traditional formulations. Following the takeover, Mr Vangal merged his Katra Healthcare, which has nursing education and immunisation software businesses, into the Aluva-based KAPL with 37% public holding.

Mr Vangal is in the midst of putting in place a new management for his healthcare business, which is likely to focus on bolstering KAPL’s domestic operations leveraging on its Brand Kerala association. The global herbal healthcare market, including ayurveda, is pegged at over $60bn with India accounting for only $900m, and is estimated to be growing at 18-20% annually.