Zydus Lifesciences (formerly called Cadilla Lifesciences) has onboarded three investment banks as advisors as the Ahmedabad-headquartered pharma firm prepares for a fund-raise of up to Rs 5,000 crore via the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.
The firm is looking to reduce its debt and eyeing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) opportunities, especially linked to its US specialty business.
“Jefferies, JP Morgan and IIFL Capital have been picked for the proposed capital raise,” said one of the persons above.
A second person confirmed the syndicate of advisors and added that the deal was likely to be launched by end of December or early 2026 depending on market conditions.
An email query and text messages sent to Zydus Lifesciences were left unanswered at the time of publishing. Reminders have been sent and this article will be updated as soon as we hear from the firm.
When contacted, Jefferies and JP Morgan declined to comment. An email query sent to IIFL Capital was left unanswered.
During the Q25Y26 post results earning call, Zydus Lifesciences managing director Dr Sharvil Patel elaborated on the rationale behind the capital raise.
“So, the key objective is to deleverage our balance sheet by reducing our existing debt. Also, there are strategic moves, which will enhance our financial ability and agility to strengthen our capital structure, positions us better for future growth. Also, the board has approved the enabling QIP resolution to allow us to have the flexibility to tap capital markets, which are when required. And more importantly, we also have potentially, as we have always stated, opportunities to look at the US specialty business and scaling it up beyond Saroglitazar,” Patel said.
To be sure, Saroglitazar is a liver disease drug and Zydus Lifesciences plans to submit a US regulatory application for it in the first quarter of 2026, according to reports.
Patel added during the earnings call, “Also, opportunities in the international market, specifically Europe, and also some more innovative assets that we are looking at. So, this will allow us the capability to execute on some of these.”
Zydus Lifesciences: Focus on debt
On the firm’s net debt to EBIDTA ration, Patel elaborated, “In terms of our net debt to EBITDA ratio, we have always said that, without any acquisition, we don't want to cross one time, and for a short period of time, we can go two times and then obviously reduce our net debt to one time. So that's the kind of range of spend that we'll look at.”
For FY25-26, the firm clocked revenues of Rs 15,116 crore and a net profit of Rs 5,774 crore as per exchange data.
“Gross debt stood at Rs 3,213 crore as on March 31, 2025 (Rs 804 crore as on March 31, 2024), on account of higher working capital requirements. Liquidity was superior at Rs 5,681 crore as on March 31, 2025,” as per a September 9 report by ratings agency Crisil.
The report added, “Crisil Ratings expects the business risk profile of Zydus Life to continue improving, supported by a double-digit revenue growth this fiscal and the next, led by continued traction in the domestic and international markets, ramp-up in sales of new chemical entities and biosimilars, and inclusion of operational benefits arising from recent acquisitions while sustaining healthy operating margin at 25-26%, leading to higher cash accrual.”
Zydus Lifesciences: the M&A strategy
Earlier in the year, the firm bolstered its presence in medical technology by purchasing a majority stake in a French asset for around Rs 2,450 crore.
On March 11, Zydus Lifesciences said it had entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a controlling 85.6 percent stake in France-based Amplitude Surgical SA, a leading medical technology company specialising in lower-limb orthopaedic solutions.
Additionally, in the consumer wellness space, Zydus Wellness , a subsidiary of Zydus Lifesciences, acquired UK’s Comfort Click Limited or CCL, among the fastest growing digital consumer healthcare platforms in the VMS i.e. vitamins, minerals, and supplements space, which derives most of its revenues from e-commerce and D2C channels.
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