Torrent Pharma All Set to Acquire Unichem Labs’ India Business
Ahmadabad-based Flagship Company of the Torrent Group, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, has now announced that it will be acquiring the domestic business of Unichem Laboratories for Rs 3,600 crore in a deal that will make the Ahmedabad-based company among the country’s top five drugmakers.
The deal is among the largest transactions in the domestic pharmaceutical landscape.
The deal will also give Torrent access to 120 brands of Unichem in India and Nepal besides a manufacturing unit in Sikkim.
The deal is expected to close by the end of this calendar year. The acquisition puts Torrent in the fifth spot in the league of top firms in the Indian Pharma Market, according to IMS Health, a leading global information and technology services company.
The acquisition is on a going concern basis and is expected to deliver cost and revenue synergies in Torrent’s branded drugs business in India. Unichem has not been able to leverage its slow-growing, mature brands portfolio, analysts say. But Torrent will be able to turn them around, as it has done with Elder Pharmaceuticals Ltd, they added.
The transaction will strengthen Torrent’s position in cardiology, diabetology, gastrointestinals and central nervous
systems therapies, Torrent chairman Samir Mehta said.The deal includes the purchase of the brand Unienzyme, allowing Torrent to enter the over-the-counter drugs market, as well as brands including Losar, Ampoxin and Telsar.
Unichem will continue to have a greater focus on international business, comprising manufacturing, selling and marketing of fixed dosage formulation and APIs, and building a sustainable revenue stream by investing in R&D to develop its future product pipeline.
“The transaction is a strategic fit for Torrent and will strengthen its position in the key segments of cardiology, diabetology, gastrointestinal and CNS therapies. It is also expected to realize cost and revenue synergies in Torrent’s branded business in India,” Torrent Pharma Executive Chairman Samir Mehta said.
In a statement, Prakash Mody, Chairman of Unichem, said: “The deal will enable the organisation to deliver superior results in areas of innovative research, new chemical and biological entities and move into next the orbit of growth.”
