NEW DELHI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday cleared Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd’s proposed acquisition of a stake in JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, subject to voluntary modifications offered by the companies.
Torrent announced the deal in June, acquiring a 46.39 per cent stake from promoters Tau Investment Holdings (KKR affiliate) for Rs 11,917 crore, and 2.8 per cent from employees for Rs 719 crore, followed by a 26 per cent open offer under SEBI norms.
Post-merger, Torrent will become India’s second most valued pharma company. CCI noted that the acquisition includes the subsequent amalgamation of JB Pharma into Torrent. Torrent, the flagship of the Torrent Group, has annual revenues of over Rs 11,500 crore.
JB Chemicals manufactures and markets formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients and provides CDMO services. The deal ranks as the second-largest in the sector after Sun Pharma’s 2015 Ranbaxy acquisition.