New Delhi-based Ranbaxy's founders Malvinder Singh and his family sold their 34.82 per cent stake in the company to Daiichi Sankyo for as much as $4.6 billion.
Tempest joined the company in 1995, as regional director, Europe, CIS and Africa, and in 2000 was promoted to become president - pharmaceuticals worldwide. In 2003, the board appointed him as joint managing director and CEO designate, and in 2004 he took over as CEO and managing director of the Company. In 2006, he was appointed as chief mentor and executive vice chairman, a position he held till December 2007. He is currently a non-executive director of the company. Tempest spoke to Business Standard from London in a phone interview on the sell-out by Ranbaxy founders to Japanese multinational Daiichi Sankyo.
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Do you think it was necessary for Malvinder Singh to sell Ranbaxy?
I have been encouraging Malvinder Singh for this deal. If you look at this deal from the Indian company's perspective, you will think ownership is important for a company's growth. But the global scenario is different in the pharmaceutical space. One should realise most of the CEOs of the large international pharmaceutical companies don't hold any stake in the company they manage and are only true professionals.
Why did you encourage Malvinder Singh to sell the business at this stage, when the company was turning around?
Ranbaxy is already the largest domestic pharmaceutical company and this is continuation of building itself into a global company and taking it to the next level of growth.
How does Daiichi Sankyo benefit from the deal?
Japanese companies have pressure to focus on the generics business due to governmental regulations. This is why, increasingly Japaneses firms are looking to partner Indian companies.
How will this deal impact the Indian pharmaceutical space?
A lot of global companies want to leverage India advantage of low-cost and skilled manpower. International players are looking at alliances as the cost of manufacturing is on rise in that part of the world.