Hyderabad-based Vivimed Labs has acquired 60 per cent stake in Octtantis Nobel Labs Pvt Ltd (ONL) for an undisclosed sum, according to the company statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Octtantis Nobel Labs, another Hyderabad-based firm, is currently engaged in trading, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical formulations conforming to the GMP Standards of World Health Organization.
With this acquisition, Vivimed Labs makes foray into the domestic pharma retail and it will synergise this initiative with its extensive experience in manufacturing of formulations at its three existing pharma units.
Shares of Vivimed Labs were trading at Rs 254.75 per unit on the BSE at 2:36 pm, down 0.89% from the previous close.
Meanwhile, Octtantis Nobel Labs plans to manufacture more than 50 products with its own licence and will also procure licence to market products from other manufacturers for the first time in India, the statement adds.
In August this year, Vivimed Labs had raised Rs 127.5 crore from Jacob Ballas Capital and Kitara Capital, who picked up 13 per cent stake each.
For the June quarter, Vivimed reported 42 per cent increase in total income to Rs 120.6 crore, with profit increasing 31 per cent to Rs 15.55 crore, as compared to the same period last year. For the year ended March 2011, Vivimed reported 19 per cent rise in consolidated revenues to Rs 416 crore, with the net profit increasing more than 57 per cent to Rs 48.8 crore.
Vivimed, led by first-generation entrepreneur Santosh Varalwar, is currently setting up new project sites and also investing in a SEZ in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, the company has set up Vivimed Labs Spain, a foreign subsidiary to focus on acquisition. The company has also guaranteed a loan of Rs 150 crore for this unit, as per its recent disclosures.
Vivimed’s expansion plans include ramping up existing sites at Bidar (Karnataka) and Bonthapally (Andhra Pradesh), besides its greenfield projects located at Choutuppal (Andhra Pradesh) and the SEZ in Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh). The total investment envisaged for the projects is pegged at about $42 million.
Vivimed operates through two divisions – H&PC Actives Division for its synthetic organic chemistry products catering to oral care, sun care, skin care, hair care and preservatives, and the Specialty Pharma Division which is into drug delivery and drug discovery, with the focus on such areas as oncology, arthritis, Syndrome X, macular degeneration, psoriasis and stress.
