Ipca & Makers hike stake in Mangalam Drugs to 14%
Mumbai-based mid-size pharma company Ipca Laboratories along with Makers Laboratories has picked up additional stake in bulk drugs and chemicals manufacturer Mangalam Drugs & Organics to take the total exposure in the company to over 14%. Interestingly, this comes at a time when one of the co-promoters of Mangalam Drugs has been diluting his equity in the company and indicated the intention to disassociate with it.
When contacted by ET, Premchand Ghoda, managing director of Ipca Labs, confirmed the development. “We see it as an investment,” he said. This move is however keenly watched given the fact that as per the Indian takeover laws, acquisition of 15% stake and above in a listed company triggers a mandatory open offer for shareholders. “Earlier, we were thinking of a strategic investment but now we are reviewing our plans. At this stage we have not decided whether to increase our stake further,” said Mr Ghoda.
The Mangalam Drugs’ scrip has seen some hectic activity in the stock market since the time Ipca first picked a 10.26% stake, through off-market transactions from one of the co-promoters of Mangalam Drugs’, Ashok Boob and his family, on October 19. It has jumped 75% in the last three weeks to close at Rs 31.3 on the BSE today. Ipca along with Makers Laboratories has acquired an additional 3.77% stake in Mangalam this week through market purchase.
The anti-malarial drugs segment forms a large part of the product portfolio of both companies. Mangalam Drugs, with revenue of around Rs 100 crore in FY06, generates more than 60% of its sales from bulk drugs while the rest comes from chemical and other streams. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of bulk drugs & intermediates, speciality chemicals and disperse dye products.
Incidentally, Mangalam Drugs’ board has recently approved a preferential allotment to Poonawala Investment & Industries for about 4.5% stake along with warrants to the existing promoter group— Ramniwas Dhoot.
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