Daiichi Sankyo buys 34.8% stake in Ranbaxy

In one of the biggest buy outs of any Indian company by an MNC, Japanese major Daiichi Sankyo has picked up the promoters, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh’s, 34.8% stake at Rs 737 per share in drugmaker Ranbaxy Labarotaries.

This means complete exit of Ranbaxy promoters from the company. However, the senior Malvinder Singh is expected to continue to head the management for sometime.

The Japanese company will also make a mandatory open offer, as per the Indian laws, to buy an additional 20% stake in the company. According to sources, Daiichi Sankyo plans to hold a controlling 51% stake in the Indian company.

The deal represents a major foray into the field of generic drugs by Daiichi Sankyo and would be the latest in a string of large overseas acquisitions by Japanese drug makers.

Shares in Daiichi Sankyo, best known for its high blood pressure medication Benicar and the experimental blood thinner Prasugrel, ended nearly 5 per cent higher on early reports of a deal while Ranbaxy’s shares were also up.

The total transaction value is expected to be worth between $3.4 billion to $4.6 billion.