A unit of Adar Poonawalla-led Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, will double its investment to $300 million (Rs 2,458 crore) in one of Biocon Ltd's subsidiaries that is also backed by private equity investors.
Biocon, led by executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, said in a statement Tuesday that Biocon Biologics Ltd and Serum Institute of Life Sciences (SILS) have agreed to withdraw their original deal announced in September 2021 and have instead stitched a new transaction.
Under the new agreement, SILS would invest $150 million after converting a loan to Biocon Pharma Ltd into equity in Biocon Biologics. Biocon Pharma is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mumbai-listed Biocon Ltd. This is in addition to the $150 million that SILS invested in Biocon Biologics in November last year.
Biocon said the deal will give SILS access to 100 million doses of vaccines annually along with the distribution rights to Serum's vaccine portfolio, the Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company said.
Biocon didn’t specify the amount of stake Serum would hold in Biocon Biologics under the new agreement or the unit’s valuation. In September 2021, it had offered a 15% stake in Biocon Biologics to Serum.
Biocon Biologics has previously received investment from four private equity-style investors.
In January 2020, Indian PE firm True North agreed to invest Rs 536.25 crore in Biocon Biologics at a valuation of Rs 21,450 crore ($3 billion then) on a pre-money equity basis. In July that year, Tata Capital Growth Fund, a private equity fund managed by Tata Capital Ltd, agreed to invest Rs 225 crore in Biocon Biologics.
In November 2020, Goldman Sachs agreed to invest Rs 1,125 crore ($150 million then) in Biocon Biologics at a post-money equity valuation of $3.94 billion (about Rs 29,500 crore). In January 2021,
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ agreed to invest Rs 555 crore ($75.6 million) in Biocon Biologics to pick up a 1.8% stake at a valuation of around $4.17 billion (about Rs 30,605 crore) on a post-money basis.
