Sun Pharma plunges 11% as Daiichi Sankyo sells 8.9% stake

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Shares of Sun Pharma plunged 11 percent intraday on Tuesday after Daiichi Sankyo decided to offload its stake. Daiichi Sankyo has sold its its entire 8.9 percent stake via multiple blocks at between Rs 930-968 per share (lower end of the band).

Daiichi has raised USD 3 billion via stake sale in Sun Pharma. Daiichi had obtained around 9 percent stake in Sun Pharma following the merger of Ranbaxy with the Indian pharma major.

In the event of Daiichi Sankyo selling only part of its stake, it won't remain "a major shareholder" in Sun Pharma although its existing business partnership with the Indian firm will continue.

Last month, Sun Pharma had announced completion of merger of Ranbaxy with itself, almost a year after announcing the USD 4-billion deal. As part of the deal, Ranbaxy shareholders were to receive 0.8 Sun Pharma shares for every Ranbaxy share they held. Daiichi Sankyo, which had acquired a majority stake in Ranbaxy in 2008 for around Rs 22,000 crore, held 63.4 percent in the Gurgaon-based firm at the time of the merger.

"From the perspective of the improvement of corporate value, Daiichi Sankyo has performed a review of the Sun Pharma shares and reached a conclusion to sell the shares entirely or partially," it said.

Daiichi Sankyo said it will make an announcement about the impact of any gain or loss on the sale of Sun Pharma shares when results for 2014-15 are announced. The merger with Ranbaxy has fortified Sun Pharma's position as the world's fifth largest specialty generic pharma firm and the top-ranking domestic one with a significant lead in the market share.

At 09:44 hrs Sun Pharma was at Rs 944.00, down Rs 100.10, or 9.59 percent on the BSE.

(With inputs from PTI)