Aditya Burman-led Oncquest Laboratories Ltd has acquired a large diagnostics lab in Gurugram from Strand Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd as part of its plans to expand its operations in India.
The acquisition is “just the right trigger” Oncquest needs to boost growth, managing director Burman said in a statement.
The company is looking for more such “synergistic acquisitions”, he said, according to multiple media reports.
Aditya is the son of billionaire Anand Burman, who stepped down as chairman of Dabur India Ltd last year. He also sits on the board of the fast-moving consumer goods company.
Oncquest was incorporated in 2007, though its origins go back to 2000. It has 43 labs, 350 collection centres and more than 1,700 service associates across India, according to its website. The Gurugram facility will be its national reference laboratory.
The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. An email sent to Strand Life on why it sold the business did not elicit immediate response. Oncquest couldn’t be immediately contacted for comment.
Strand Life, backed by private equity firm Quadria Capital, sold the lab just two years after buying the facility from New York Stock Exchange-listed Quest Diagnostics Inc.
The 65,000-square-feet Gurugram laboratory was part of the India medical diagnostics business of Quest. According to media reports, Strand Life has now sold this entire business to Oncquest. It couldn’t be immediately ascertained what other assets or facilities this business included, apart from the Gurugram lab.
Strand Life was founded in 2000 by Indian Institute of Science professors. It develops technology for data, image and text analysis, and for diagnostics testing in the fields of genomics, pharmaceuticals research and development, biotechnology and healthcare.
The company had raised funds from Quadria Capital in February 2018. Venture capital firm Healthquad, floated by the founders of Quadria, and Heritas Venture Fund, which is a limited partner to the private equity firm, had also participated in the round.
