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The legal tussle between Indian drug makers -- Hetero Drugs and Nectar Lifesciences -- is moving to the next level as the Punjab and Haryana High Court will hear the winding up petition filed against Nectar Lifesciences by Hetero Drugs on Thursday.
Earlier, the court had issued a show-cause notice against Punjab-based Nectar Lifesciences Ltd asking the company why a winding up petition, filed by Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs Ltd, should not be admitted against Nectar for alleged default of the long outstanding dues of Rs 3.2 crore which Nectar is indebted to Hetero Drugs.
Nectar Life, which is backed by Private Equity major - New Silk Route (NSR), had purchased 3000 kg of cefixime trihydrate at Rs 9500 / kg, totaling Rs 2.85 crore in 2010. "Nectar Life has even failed to comply with the repeated written reminders and further has even failed to reply with legal notices. On the contrary, Nectar is alleging non-payment of certain sums by the petitioner company to the respondent company," petition by Hetero said.
NSR is holding 11.5% stake in BSE-listed Nectar Lifesciences. A NSR spokesperson said, "New Silk Route will not be in a position to respond to any query relating to a listed company or about any legal matter relating to them." Mail sent to Amit Chadah, President, Operations at Nectar Life, did not elicit any response.
In its petition, Hetero has requested the court to "appoint official liquidator attached to the court as the provisional liquidator of the respondent company with other necessary directions."
In 2010, New Silk Route had picked up a total of more than 30% stake in Nectar Lifesciences through a mix of preferential issue and Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) at a rate of Rs 34-35 per share, with total investment worth Rs 250 crore.
On Tuesday, shares of Nectar Life closed at Rs 14.18 on BSE. During August 2013, shares of Nectar had touched 52-week low of Rs 9.65.
The Rs 1626-crore Nectar Life is one of the leading manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) makers in the country. Nectar, involved in contract manufacturing services, produces solid dosage forms like tablets, capsules, dry powder, oral suspension and granules for cephalosporin and distributed to export destinations worldwide.
