Drug firms line up $2.5 bn for shopping abroadBhuma Shrivastava / New Delhi April 17, 2006Indian pharmaceutical companies are sitting on a war chest of at least $2.5 billion for overseas buys, mostly in Europe. This is after they acquired companies worth almost $1 billion in the continent this year.Ranbaxy, which is bullish on acquisitions the world over and especially in Europe, has a board approval for raising another $1.06 billion after a foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) issue of $440 million. Pharmaceuticals major Wockhardt, too, is touring the continent with a purse of billion dollars and Aurobindo Pharma has set aside about $300 million for 4 to 5 smaller European acquisitions. Dr Reddy
