Pharma company Venus Remedies today said it has reached a settlement with US-based hedge funds DE Shaw and Citadel Investment Group in a dispute related to redemption of $12 million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).
"We have reached a settlement agreement with DE Shaw and Citadel Investment, the holders of $12 million FCCB, on the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court whereby they (holders) will withdraw winding up petition against us," a senior official of Venus Remedies told PTI here seeking anonymity.
Under the settlement agreement, Venus Remedies will pay $7 million within the next one and half years to the holders and remaining $5 million would be rolled over for a period of five years, which would be subject to statutory approvals.
Moreover, the investors would continue to remain invested in the company, he said.
The FCCB of Venus Remedies was launched in May 2006. The Panchkula (in Haryana) based company had availed FCCB route for setting up a research and development plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and for setting up a subsidiary in Germany.
However, Venus Remedies failed to redeem the FCCB issue in May 2009, following which DE Shaw and Citadel Investment filed a petition with the Punjab and the Haryana High Court in August 2009, he said.
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"We could not redeem the FCCB because of adverse impact of the global meltdown on the pharma sector," he said.
He said Punjab and Haryana High Court asked both the parties to reach an of court settlement.
Venus Remedies is amongst the top 50 Indian Pharma companies.
Till December 2009, the company reported total sales of Rs 228.94 crore with net profit of Rs 32.67 crore. It is targetting crossing Rs 300 crore in sales by current fiscal end.