China’s Fosun buys Gland Pharma from PE firm KKR; makes a non-binding bid for Fortis: Report

Chinese company Fosun Pharmaceutical Group has bought Gland Pharma from Private Equity firm KKR, reports CNBC-TV18. It is said to have made a non-binding bid for Fortis.

In September last year, Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma had agreed to cut the size of the stake it planned to buy in India's Gland Pharma to 74 percent or no more than USD 1.09 billion.

Fosun’s earlier target was to acquire 86 percent in Gland, including 36 percent held by KKR. The deal was then valued at roughly around USD 1.26 billion.

On reasons for cutting the size of the deal, Fosun had said that Gland Pharma's founding family wanted to retain a higher stake in the Indian firm thanks to its good performance.

Reports around the same time suggested that India’s Union Cabinet had raised red flags on the takeover as it did not find merit in transferring technology from the Indian pharma to a foreign company.

The Vetter family that controls Germany-based Vetter Pharma, is also an investor in privately-held Gland Pharma and was to sell its stake in the proposed deal.

Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma develops and manufactures generic injectables, primarily for the US market. Established in 1978 by late PVN Raju, the company sells its products in India and other semi-regulated markets. The company is currently headed by his son Ravi Penemetsa.

Gland pioneered Heparin technology in India in 1960 and set up the country’s first state-of-the-art Pre-Filled Syringe (PFS) facility for Low-molecular-weight heparin in 1998. Gland is still one of the largest producers of clot busting medication in the world.

Gland’s manufacturing facilities have approvals from regulatory agencies from US, Australia, Germany and the UK, in addition to the World Health Organization.