Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC on Wednesday invested Rs 1,075.2 crore (around $131 million) in drug research company Syngene International Ltd in a block deal.
As part of the deal, the Singapore government has infused Rs 884.75 crore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore put in Rs 190.44 crore in the pharma firm. Morgan Stanley, which also participated, invested about Rs 58 crore in the company.
Other participants include Goldman Sachs, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada’s second-largest pension fund manager, invested Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) among others.
Goldman Sachs invested Rs 16.8 crore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority added Rs 35 crore and CDPQ put in about about Rs 6.2 crore.
Biopharma firm Biocon, which previously owned 64.56% in the firm, sold stakes worth Rs 2240 crore in the publicly-listed Syngene, trimming about 9.96% stake through open market operations, according to data available on Bombay Stock Exchange.
The sale comes about two months after Biocon Biologics, biosimilars manufacturing arm of Biocon, announced completion of acquisition of Viatris' global biosimilars business for $3 billion.
Syngene, a contract research organisation, offers a suite of integrated, end-to-end discovery and development services for novel molecular entities across industrial sectors such as biotechnology, agrochemicals, consumer health, animal health, cosmetic and nutrition companies.
Post the transaction, Biocon now holds about 54.60% stake in Syngene, according to an exchange filing. Biocon, a globally recognized name in the pharmaceutical industry, manufactures medicines and other pharma products utilised in the treatment of chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune.
GIC had first invested in Syngene during its initial public offering in 2015, when it made a strong debut on the markets. GIC had put in Rs 25 crore while funds managed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank besides other foreign portfolio investors and a few domestic mutual funds had added another Rs 125 crore as anchor investor.
Syngene reported a revenue from operations at Rs 786 crore during the quarter, up about 23% year-on-year.
