Founding family hands over reins entirely to Arjun Handa
Claris Lifesciences, an Ahmedabad based sterile injectable pharmaceutical company is planning to come up with an initial public offer with an aim to raise Rs 300 crore. The company, which recently filed for the draft red herring prospectus with Securities and Exchange Bureau of India (SEBI) aims to go for listing on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange by Diwali this year, market sources privy to the development told Business Standard.
The issue proceeds will be primarily utilized for capital expansion including setting up of a new manufacturing plant, installing a new manufacturing line in the existing plant, establishment of a new research & development centre in the existing manufacturing facilities & prepayment of an identified term loan.
The proposed IPO could also act as an opportunity for Carlyle group to exit Claris. The US based private equity investment firm invested Rs 90 crore in the Claris in 2006 and acquired equity stake of about 15 per cent, sources said.
The lead managers for the IPO are Enam Securities Pvt Ltd, Edelweiss Capital Ltd, JM Financial Consultants Pvt Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd and the Registrar to the issue is Link Intime India Pvt Ltd.
Currently Arjun Handa is the group promoter with about 62 per cent equity stake while his younger brother Aditya Handa holds close to 24 per cent equity in Claris Lifesciences.
According to the DRHP, the company was originally promoted by Sushil Handa and Beena Handa. In 2000, Arjun Handa, Aditya Handa and Sarjan Financial Service joined the company as co-promoters.
Sushil Handa, one of erstwhile promoters of Claris and father of Arjun Handa, had promoted a company, Core Healthcare Limited (CHL), which became unable to repay its debt under certain term and working capital loans granted to it by various lenders, including the Bank of Baroda, according to the DRHP.
CHL and its directors, including Sushil Handa, are included in the list of willful defaulters maintained by the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited for loan default, as mentioned in the DRHP. Asset Reconstruction Company India Ltd (ARCIL) took over the possession of CHL’s assets in 2005. Subsequently, the Gujarat High Court, by its order dated March 1, 2007, sanctioned a scheme of demerger of the erstwhile CHL and transferred the Sachana unit to Nirma Limited.
Meanwhile, Arjun Handa, has entered into a separation agreement dated March 15, 2010 with Sushil Handa, mother Beena Handa and Aditya Handa, according to the DRHP. The founding family has decided that ownership and control of Claris shall be with Arjun Handa. Aditya has been setting up his company in the renewable energy business called Abellon CleanEnergy Ltd.
They have separated their companies and holdings and now manage their own businesses independently, sources said. Sushil Handa has retired from Claris, sources added.
Claris achieved a top line of about Rs 743 crores and its net profits for the calendar year 2009 December stood around Rs 124 crore.
Claris with a global presence in 76 countries has and its overseas business has contributed to about 54 per cent or Rs 406 crore of the company’s revenues.
Recently, Pfizer Inc entered into a partnership with Claris to commercialise sterile injectible drugs that are off-patent and have lost exclusivity in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
