Malvinder Singh denies Daiichi's charges of wrongdoing

A war of words has broken out between the current owners and former promters of beleagured pharma company, Ranbaxy.

A day after Daiichi Sankyo, the current owners of Ranbaxy accused "certain former shareholders of the company for concealing and misrepresenting critical information about the US justice department (DoJ) and the FDA probe, former Ranbaxy promoter Malvinder Singh has denied all allegations.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan and Archana Shukla, Malvinder Singh says Daiichi's claims were a convenient diversion to distract shareholders from its current problems. Also Read: Ranbaxy plunges 10% on reports Indian govt orders probe
It has taken Daiichi Sankyo a year after it decided to settle with the US Justice Department and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to say that it was pursuing legal remedies against certain shareholders. The official statement on the Daiichi Sankyo website on Wednesday did not name either Malvinder or Shivinder Singh. Also Read: Daiichi may sue ex-Ranbaxy promoters for false info

The battle is being fought in the media. Almost 24 hours after current Ranbaxy promoters Daiichi Sankyo alleged misrepresentations of facts by former shareholders before it acquired majority holding in the company in 2008, the Singh family has retaliated.
Refuting all allegations of concealment and misrepresentation of facts about the USFDA investigation, the Singh family claims that all the information was in the public domain. The family also says that the acquisition took nine months to close and Daiichi conducted appropriate due diligence.
In a statement, the Singh family says, "Daiichi Sankyo was given full access to the documents at Ranbaxy pertaining to USFDA and DoJ investigations. Daiichi Sankyo went into the deal after satisfying itself with its due diligence, with knowledge of the US DoJ and FDA investigations and with the benefit of legal advice."
On May 13, 2013, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty of felony charges and consented to pay a USD 500-million setttlement to the USFDA and US department of justice closing a seven-year long tussle with the USFDA.
And while this settlement was for data fraud prior to 2007, the details and extent of which was made public only now, Daiichi says they were misled by the former promoters.
In response, the Singh family said, "The decision to enter into that settlement agreement was made by Ranbaxy and had nothing to do with the Singh family which was not even consulted by Daiichi Sankyo or Ranbaxy."
And on allegations that facts were concealed, the Singh family added, "It is unfortunate that Daichii Sankyo is now trying to desperately shift the blame as regards Ranbaxy's current situation away from itself."