India Value Fund picks 10% stake in Biocon research unit

IVFA will acquire the shares from Biocon Research Limited (BRL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Biocon, via its investment vehicle Silver Leaf Oak. Once the transaction is complete Biocon and BRL will jointly hold an 85.54% stake in unit.

The deals values Syngene at INR38 billion, higher than than the INR28 billion valuation at which Biocon bought back previous PE backer GE Capital's stake earlier this month. GE Capital took a 7.69% stake in the business for INR1.25 million in 2012 and sold it back to Biocon for INR2.15 million.

"This transaction is part of the overall strategic plan for Syngene and sets a new benchmark as we prepare the company for listing," Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon's chairman and managing director, said in a statement.

Set up as subsidiary of Biocon in 1994. Syngene is a contract research organization that offers drug discovery and development services to clients including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott, Endo Pharma and DuPont. It has a team of over 2,300 scientists and one million square feet of laboratories that support the R&D programs of global pharma, biotech and nutrition companies.

IVFA had previously invested in Syngene's parent Biocon in May 2003, exiting in 2004 soon after the company went public.

This latest deal represents IVFA's fourth transaction of 2014. In May it joined Olympus Capital in investing $65 million in Aster DM Healthcare. The GP also bought a majority stake in pest management services provider Hicare Services in January and bought out National Bulk Handling Corporation from FTIL in March.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• India
• healthcare
• India Value Fund Advisors
• Growth capital