The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Monday cleared a proposal by Ahmedabad-based Claris Lifesciences Ltd to sell its global generic injectables business to US-based Baxter International Inc. for Rs4,020 crore ($625 million), a finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Claris said in December last year that it intends to share a significant majority of net cash proceeds from the sale, post expenses and taxes, with shareholders.
Claris operated the global generic injectables business through several wholly-owned subsidiaries. It has a total of 40 abbreviated new drug applications filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), of which 16 have been approved, the firm said in a statement. The company markets its products in more than 75 countries.
The injectables business has also been one of the fastest growing for Claris, expanding in double digits annually over the last several years driven by new product launches and geographic expansion.
There have been a couple of other big deals in this space. In 2013, Strides Arcolab Ltd sold its injectables unit, Agila Specialties, to US-based Mylan Inc. for $1.6 billion. In July last year, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd said it will acquire India’s Gland Pharma Ltd, an injectables specialist, for $1.3 billion (Rs8,700 crore).
With the addition of Claris’s portfolio, Baxter plans to launch seven to nine new products annually over the next few years and 10-15 per year beyond 2019.
Source: Mint