Glenmark Pharma is seeking to sell up to 30% stake in Glenmark Life Sciences to PremjiInvest, the family office of Azim Premji, for $150 million (Rs 1,100 crore), in a deal that will value the API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) business at up to $700 million (Rs 5,000 crore), a person in the know told The Economic Times.
The talks were initiated after discussions with homegrown PE fund TrueNorth hit a roadblock over a valuation mismatch. Glenmark Pharma was also in talks with other global funds such as Carlyle and Goldman Sachs for the stake sale.
Glenmark Life Sciences primarily manufactures and markets API products across all major markets globally. The business also includes captive sales (use of API by Glenmark Pharma for its own formulations). It has four dedicated API manufacturing facilities, of which three are approved by the US regulator.
In August 2018, Glenmark had sold its orthopaedic and pain management business for the India and Nepal markets to TrueNorth for Rs 635 crore.
Meanwhile, food and beverage retail business Lite Bite Foods Group, led by co-promoter and Dabur Group chairman Amit Burman, plans to raise about Rs 250 crore (about $35 million at current exchange rate) from private equity firms and aims to spin off its airport franchise business, co-promoter Rohit Aggarwal told The Economic Times.
Lite Bite has an enterprise value of up to Rs 1,200 crore ($167 million at current exchange rate).
Started in 2002, Lite Bite operates a chain of quick service and fine-dining restaurants as well as food courts and is also a wine distributor. It has almost 200 casual dining restaurants in India and abroad including Punjab Grill, Street Foods, Asia Seven Express and The Artful Baker.
In another development, private equity firms Blackstone Group, Mapletree Investments, Brookfield Asset Management, Apollo Global and a domestic fund managed by InterGlobe Enterprises’ real estate arm have emerged as final bidders for Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group’s headquarters in Mumbai, two people in the know told The Economic Times.
Reliance Group is looking to monetise its assets to help reduce its debt. “The buyer is expected to be finalised over the next two to three weeks,” said one of the persons cited earlier.
“While two real estate developers had shown interest in the property initially, the final bidders are all institutional investors,” said the second person.
