Dubai: VLCC, a health and beauty care company from India with extensive activities in the UAE, on Sunday announced plans to float a public issue of its shares in 2009 to fund its expansion in the Middle East.

The company wants to increase the number of centres in Middle East to 35 by 2010 from the originally-planned 28. VLCC has so far committed over Dh200 million to fund the regional expansion.

New UAE centre

VLCC recently opened its seventh centre in the UAE at Al Qusais in Dubai.

"The opening of this centre is part of VLCC's aggressive Dh200 million roll-out in the Middle East. In the next six months, apart from additional centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the company will have operating centres in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

The first centre in Muscat (Oman) is scheduled to open in March 2008," said Mukesh Luthra, chairman and managing director of the VLCC Group.

According to Luthra, the Dh400 million group will announce the details of the IPO later in the year.

The capital raised would also help further VLCC's expansion in its three lines of business - slimming and beauty services, manufacturing and retailing of personal care products and beauty and nutrition education and training services.