Temasek buys 10.16% stake in Intas Pharmaceuticals

Ahmedabad: Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a privately held pharmaceutical firm based in Ahmedabad, said on Monday Singapore's investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd had acquired a 10.16% equity stake in the local firm by way of a secondary purchase of shares from private equity investor ChrysCapital.

The firm didn't publicly disclose the financial details of the transactions, but two persons with knowledge of the development put the value of the deal at Rs.880 crore, valuing Intas at around Rs.9,000 crore. The two didn't want to be named.

ChrysCapital invested in Intas through two funds, buying a stake of around 10% in 2005 and a 6% stake about two years ago. It has exited the first investment, said one of the two persons. It had invested Rs.350 crore through the two funds, the person said.

Intas had planned to raise funds by way of an initial public offer (IPO) to provide a part exit to ChrysCapital. The pharma firm owned by the Chudgar family has twice deferred plans to sell shares to the public because of changing market conditions.

"We might not go for an IPO in the Indian stock market for the next one year or so. We are in a strong financial position and wanted to go for an IPO only to give part exit to ChrysCapital. But we might consider an overseas listing," said an Intas Pharmaceuticals executive who did not want to be named.

Intas manufactures formulations. The company has been growing been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 28% over the last five years, and has operations in over 70 countries, Intas said in a media statement.

"Over the past few years, Intas has successfully transitioned into a global generics player with over 50% of its revenues now coming from international markets," managing director Binish Chudgar said.

Temasek, owned by the Singapore government, had a $223 billion portfolio as of 31 March. It had earlier received approvals from the Competition Commission of India and the Foreign Exchange Promotion Board for the purchase of part of the ChrysCapital stake in Intas.

According to a company statement,"Temasek's investment deepens its exposure to India's pharmaceuticals industry through a company with deepening comparative advantages. The sector is a good proxy for the needs of transforming economies, which is part of Temasek's investment themes."

Delhi-based ChrysCapital is one of India's largest home-grown independent private equity firms with over $2.5 billion under management across six funds. The company has made investments in several Indian pharmaceutical firms including Mankind Pharma, Zydus Cadila, Eris Lifesciences, Ipca Labs and Torrent Pharmaceuticals.

"ChrysCapital has been a valuable partner for Intas over the years. We are delighted to have lived up to the expectation of ChrysCapital and now look forward to welcoming a globally reputed investor like Temasek to enable Intas to reach greater heights in the years to come," Chudgar said.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.