Ranbaxy's promoters - Malvinder Singh and family, earlier this week agreed to sell their 34.8 per cent stake to Daiichi Sankyo in the biggest sell-out of an Indian promoter group, which would be followed by an open offer for an additional 20 per cent stake.
Besides, Daiichi would get further stake of close to 15 per cent through preferential allotment of shares and equity-convertible warrants, taking its stake to over 50 per cent.
However, within days of the deal with Ranbaxy, in the run-up to which the share price of the Indian company had appreciated sharply, a fresh bout of buying activities was seen on the counter today after some media reports said that Pfizer is readying a counter offer to acquire Ranbaxy.
Ranbaxy shares were trading 5.5 per cent up at Rs 573.55, while that of Pfizer Ltd were up nearly 6.8 per cent at Rs 632.
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Shares of NYSE-listed Pfizer Inc, which has a market capitalistion of close to $120 billion, closed 1.03 per cent up at $17.73 in the US market yesterday.
When contacted Pfizer India spokesperson said they are not in a position to comment on this. Meanwhile, Daiichi officials could not be contacted.
"We have entered into a legally binding agreement, with Daiichi," a Ranbaxy spokesperson said but did not wish to comment any further on media reports about Pfizer mulling a counter offer.