A consortium led by private equity firm Multiples Alternate Asset Management has agreed to acquire an animal health business from a wholly owned unit of Cadila Healthcare Ltd (brand name Zydus Cadila) for Rs 2,921 crore ($397 million).
The consortium includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s RARE Enterprises. It will buy Animal Healthcare Established Markets Undertaking (Zydus AH), which is one of the two businesses of Zydus Animal Health and Investment Ltd, said Multiples in a statement.
Zydus AH has leadership position across therapeutic and nutritional products for livestock and poultry animal segments, Multiples added. The business, which has one manufacturing facility in Haridwar, employs 700 people.
Pankaj Patel, chairman of Cadila Healthcare, said that the transaction will help Zydus AH continue to grow and strengthen its position in the industry.
Renuka Ramnath, founder and chief executive of Multiples, said that the deal will allow the private equity firm to invest in a business that has been helping farmers enhance their productivity and incomes by delivering innovative animal health solutions.
“I expect Multiples to do many such large transactions in the coming years," she said.
In a recent interaction with VCCircle, Ramnath had said that the private equity firm aims to put upwards of $300 million to work across deals by March next year.
The Mumbai-based private equity firm, founded in 2009, is currently investing from its third consecutive fund and the latest deal is the first-known investment from it.
Multiples' portfolio includes fantasy gaming firm Dream11, logistics platform Delhivery, multiplex chain PVR, big data startup Quantiphi, and human resources technology company PeopleStrong.