Torrent Pharmaceuticals today said it will acquire branded business of Unichem Laboratories in India and Nepal for Rs 3,600 crore in one of the major consolidations in the domestic pharma sector.
This is the company's fifth acquisition in India in the last four years after acquiring selected brands of Elder and Novartis, catapulting Torrent Pharma to the list of top pharma firms in India.
As part of the acquisition, Torrent will take over Unichem's India and Nepal business (India business) comprising a portfolio of over 120 brands, a manufacturing plant at Sikkim catering to these markets and over 3,000 employees, the company said in a statement.
Commenting on the development, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Chairman Samir Mehta said: "The transaction is a strategic fit for Torrent and will strengthen its position in the key segments of Cardiology, Diabetology, Gastro-Intestinals and CNS therapies".
It is also expected to realise cost and revenue synergies in Torrent's branded business in India, he added.
Torrent Pharma said the acquisition will open doors for it to enter into the OTC segment with 'Unienzyme' and help it become a dominant player in the digestive enzyme market.
Besides, it will also be among the top three players in anti-hypertensive, anti-depressants and tranquilisers, the company added.
Unichem Laboratories Chairman Prakash Modi said, "The deal will enable the organisation to deliver superior results in areas of innovative research, new chemical and biological entities and move into next the orbit of growth."
The transaction is on going concern basis by way of slump sale and the company "will fund the acquisition through a mix of internal accruals and bank borrowings," Torrent Pharmaceuticals said.
"This will be Torrent's fifth acquisition in India after acquiring the selected brands of Elder and Novartis, as well as manufacturing plants from ZygPharma and Glochem Industries Ltd in the last four years," the company said.
The acquisition will add a brand of Rs 200 crore and three brands of over Rs 50 crore, to the company's existing portfolio. The top brands include Losar, Unienzyme, Ampoxin, Telsar and Vizylac, it added.
With this deal, Torrent Pharma will enter the list of top pharma firms in the Indian Pharma market (IPM) and will be ranked at number five in the IMS, the company said.
"The acquisition helps to consolidate its market share in terms of sales which will increase from current 2.4 per cent to 3.4 per cent in the IPM," it said, adding over 3,000 employees would also be added to Torrent's existing pool.
Unichem will continue to have greater focus on international business comprising of manufacturing, selling and marketing of fixed dosage formulation and API. It will also continue to build a sustainable revenue stream by investing in R&D to develop its future product pipeline, the statement said.
Torrent Pharma had earlier in December 2013 announced its decision to acquire Elder Pharmaceuticals' branded domestic formulations business in India and Nepal for a consideration of around Rs 2,000 crore.
In the biggest such deal in the domestic drug sector, pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industry had announced in April 2014, that it would acquire troubled rival Ranbaxy in an all-stock transaction worth USD 4-billion that included USD 800 million debt.
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