"We are looking for acquiring a majority stake in Benzochem and presently, negotiations are going, which is expected to be completed soon," Arch Pharma CMD Ajit Kamath said.
He, however, declined to comment on the details of the deal such as the valuation and the percentage of stake Arch Pharmalabs is eyeing on Benzochem Lifesciences.
Kamath said Arch Pharmalab has abandoned its plans to set up a green-field facility to enter into the oncology segment as it is inching towards closing a deal with the promoters of the Benzochem for acquiring majority stake in the company.
"The negotiations are in advanced stage and we expect to close the deal in another one or two days," he said. Explaining the rationale behind the pursuit of the deal, he said Benzochem has a development pipeline for various products in the oncology segment.
Benzochem is a privately-held company engaged in API manufacturing for oncology and anti-malarial drug segment. The company has a FDA-compliant manufacturing facility in Tarapur and has also filed drug master file (DMF) application for all anti-cancer APIs.
"If the deal gets through then our plans to enter into oncology segment would be advanced by two years," Kamath said.
Arch Pharmalabs is leafing producer of API in the country and is controlled by three PE firms ICICI Venture, IL& FS and SwissTec.
