Global private equity firms Blackstone, Brookfield and Warburg Pincus are in talks to acquire a majority stake in Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma Ltd from China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd in a deal expected to value the company at nearly $3 billion, three people with knowledge of the development said.
Fosun, which retains about a 51% share in Gland Pharma nearly eight years after it acquired a 74% stake in it for $1.2 billion, is looking to sell its remaining ownership in the company. Fosun has appointed investment banks Morgan Stanley and UBS to help it with the sale process, these people said.
“The buyers are currently in talks and binding bids are likely to come next month,” one of them said.
Gland Pharma currently commands a market capitalisation of about ₹23,901 crore, or $2.8 billion, on NSE.
Fosun has been looking to exit its investment in Gland Pharma since 2020, when geopolitical tensions between India and China escalated. In June 2024, the Chinese pharma company sold around 6% of its stake in Gland for ₹1,754 crore, or $172 million. Fosun’s shareholding in Gland dropped further to about 51.8% in December, NSE shareholding data show.
“The stake purchase (by the private equity firms) will trigger an open offer to the shareholders of the company (Gland Pharma),” said the second of the two persons cited above. “The buyers are looking to own anywhere between 60-65% of the company post transaction.”
Spokespersons for Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, Brookfield and Gland Pharma declined comment. Spokespersons for Fosun, Morgan Stanley and UBS did not respond immediately to Mint’s emailed queries.
Gland Pharma shares were up 2.74% at ₹1,491.55 on NSE at about 2.15pm on 12 Februrary.
Gland Pharma’s new doors
Founded in 1978 by P.V.N. Raju, Gland Pharma develops and manufactures generic injectables for use in nearly 90 countries on five continents, with a focus on the Indian and US markets.
Gland Pharma’s board recently approved the appointment of pharma industry veteran Shyamakant Giri as the company’s new chief executive officer effective 15 January. Giri was previously New Jersey-based Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc’s managing director and president (India and rest of the world), as per his LinkedIn profile.
As per an ICICI Direct report citing Gland Pharma’s executive chairman Srinivas Sadu, the company reported a revenue of ₹1,384 crore for the December quarter, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of ₹360 crore and an ebitda margin of 26%.
Gland Pharma’s profit after tax improved to ₹204.7 crore in the December quarter from ₹191.9 crore in the corresponding year-earlier period.
Sadu, according to the report, also said that Gland Pharma’s collaborations related to contract development and manufacturing operations opened “doors to exciting opportunities in the rapidly growing biologics CDMO segment and is expected to generate incremental revenue starting next financial year”.
Biologics are treatment products derived from living organisms.
