Hoechst AG, the parent company of HMR India, is negotiating with Mallya for acquiring 5 per cent of his holding in order to hike its stake in the Indian company to 56 per cent.
HMR India chairman Mallya told the company's shareholders at the annual general meeting held here yesterday that the German drug and chemicals major has approached Union government with the proposal to hike its stake.
Mallya said negotiations with Hoechst AG are on and an agreement has been reached between the two parties that at no point will his stake come down below 20 per cent. He however did not reveal details, including the price at which he may sell his holdings.
Commenting on HMR India's performance in the first quarter of the current year, Mallya said turnover has jumped by 25 per cent compared to the first quarter of last year.
The turnover for 1996-97 is expected to be around Rs 363 crore of which around Rs 10 crore will come from new product launches. HMR has recently introduced two new anti-TB products.
Mallya said HMR India has plans to become the number two player in the domestic pharmaceutical industry by the turn of the century with a market share of 4 per cent up from the present 3.7 per cent.
