Tarsons Forays Into Rs 24,000 Cr Global Market For PCR, Cell Culture Products

Life sciences firm Tarsons Products, which is expected to hit the capital market with an IPO size of Rs 1,000-1,200 crore this month, is likely to become the country’s first company in the manufacturing of PCR and cell culture products segment.

Globally, the market for such laboratory products is estimated at Rs 24,000 crore and dominated by a few developed countries, an official said.

The company got approval from the capital market regulator SEBI on October 29 for the initial public offering. It will raise Rs 150 crore fresh capital, while 1.32 crore shares will be on offer for sale from promoters and a private equity investor. There is no company in India into PCR and cell/tissue culture space.

Globally, there are a few firms in this segment. The company has already developed the first two phases of the PCR products in the last five months and will develop the next two phases by the end of this financial year. We will be the first Indian company into this segment, Tarsons chairman and managing director Sanjive Sehgal said told PTI.

The company, which has five units in West Bengal, is developing its sixth and the largest facility at Panchla, about 49kms from Kolkata. The unit, which is spread across five acres of land, is likely to entail a total investment of Rs 200 crore, sources said.

Clear Vision Investment, part of ADV Partners, which had taken a 49 per cent stake in the company in 2018, will not exit it completely and will retain 24 per cent holding after the IPO, they said.

Promoters holding will reduce to 47 per cent from 51 per cent, the sources said. Cell culture facility will also be developed at the Panchla unit. Once this is completed,Tarsons will have access to the global Rs 60,000 crore plastic labware market which is growing at a rate of 10 per cent, company’s whole-time director Rohan Sehgal said.

The labware maker has planned to develop this facility in a phased manner and it is expected to become operational by the second half of the 2023 fiscal. The company is also building a fulfilment centre in Amta (Ranihati) in West Bengal at par with global standards. 

The size of the Indian plastic labware market was estimated at Rs 1,225 crore in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent to reach approximately Rs 2,575 crore by 2025. For Tarsons, 65- 68 per cent of its revenue comes from India and the rest from global markets.

A decade ago, the domestic operations contributed around 95 per cent of the turnover, company’s CFO Santosh Agarwal said. For Tarsons, 65- 68 per cent of its revenue comes from India and the rest from global markets. 

(PTI)