Quadria plans full exit through Concord Biotech's India IPO

The firm acquired 20% of Concord in 2016 for about INR 4.7bn (USD 60m). A draft prospectus confirmed the private equity firm would sell its entire holding as part of the offer, but pricing has not yet been set.

Quadria is the only selling shareholder. Other notable outside investors include Rare Enterprises, which has an approximately 24% stake. Rare is a vehicle of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, an investor known as the Warren Buffet of India, who died on Sunday at 62.

Concord manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) across niche therapeutic segments such as immunosuppressant, oncology, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial treatments. Quadria said at the time of its investment that it was impressed with the company’s dominance in the fermentation-based products segment.

Assets include 114,000 square metres of API production facilities, 95,000 square metres of formulation development facilities, and the largest portfolio of bioreactors in India. Products are marketed across 50 countries with distribution centres on every continent.

Revenue increased 15% during the 2022 financial year to INR 7.1bn. During the same period EBITDA fell 17% to INR 2.7bn, although this was 32% better than the 2020 figure. Likewise, profit fell 25% to INR 1.7bn, but this was on par with 2020. Concord noted that pandemic restrictions in China have affected certain deliveries of raw materials from its suppliers.

Downstream suppliers in India’s pharmaceutical industry have enjoyed increased attention from private equity in recent years. The momentum is attributed to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) setting up an Indian office in 2008 and subsequently diving deeper into compliance issues. The country now has the most FDA-approved drug factories outside the US.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• South Asia
• Healthcare
• IPO
• India
• Quadria Capital
• healthcare
• Pharmaceuticals
• manufacturing