Biocon does not intend to divest more shares in Syngene International after selling a 5.4 per cent stake in the research arm. On Tuesday, Biocon, the promoter of Syngene International, sold a total of 21,789,164 shares.
The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 560.04 per share, a discount of more than 3 per cent to Monday’s closing price of Rs 578.75 on the BSE. At the price, the transaction size stood at Rs 1,220.28 crore. Biocon had divested the shares to fund the equity component relating to the acquisition of Viatrics’ biosimilars business.
Earlier this year, its arm Biocon Biologics (BBL) had announced that it will purchase Viatris Inc’s biosimilars business for $3.35 billion (then about Rs 25,000 crore). BBL had disclosed that it will offer $2.235 billion to Viatris and $1 billion in compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS). Of the $2.23 billion, around $800 million was the equity component and the rest via debt.
Of the $850 million, close to $250 million will come from Biocon and $550 million from private equity investors. The partial stake sale in Syngene will go towards its own equity contribution. Biosimilars are clones of biologic drugs, which are derived from animal cells and micro-organisms.
Speaking to CNBC TV-18, Siddharth Mittal, the Biocon CEO & MD, said the company has no plans of selling any more stake in Syngene. He disclosed that there is a 90-day lock-in period for the promoters to not divest fresh stake in the research arm.
