Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company Claris Lifesciences Ltd has agreed to sell its entire 20% stake in a joint venture with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory Inc. to the Japanese partner.
The deal value is $20 million (Rs 128 crore), Claris said in a stock-exchange filing.
The joint venture, Otsuka Pharmaceutical India Pvt. Ltd, was formed in early 2013 when Claris sold an 80% stake in its infusion business to Otsuka and Japan’s Mitsui & Co. Ltd for $194 million. This means Claris has sold its residual stake at a far lower valuation.
Otsuka now owns 80% of the joint venture, earlier known as Claris Otsuka Pvt. Ltd, while Mitsui continues to hold 20%.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical India sells infusion products across therapeutic segments including infusion therapy, parenteral nutrition, anti-infectives and plasma volume expanders. The company makes its products in Ahmedabad.
Claris had sold a majority stake in the infusion business to focus on its speciality injectables business. In December 2016, Claris struck a deal to sell its injectables unit to New York-listed Baxter International Inc. for $625 million. Baxter outbid a number of suitors for Claris Injectables. Media reports had previously said that private equity firms Carlyle Group and Bain Capital were in the race to acquire the company.
Claris counts private equity firms OrbiMed Partners and Signet Healthcare as well as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund Government Pension Fund Global as investors. In 2015, PE investor Carlyle had exited its nine-year investment in Claris with around two-fold returns.
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