Asta Medica has, with the permission of the RBI, acquired 381,004 equity shares from Chemiewerk Homburg, representing 4.6205 per cent of the company's paid up equity capital. Thus, Asta Medica's total holding in German Remedies will now go up to 11.55 per cent of the equity capital.

The aggregate shareholding of Asta Medica in the company is 952,284 equity shares, though it is unclear whether the latest move is a mere reshuffle of equity holding between Degussa group companies. German Remedies has notified the Bombay Stock Exchange of the latest increase in Asta's holding in the company.

Asta Medica had, in 1996-97, acquired the entire shareholding of Nordmark Arzneimittel GmbH in German Remedies, while another collaborator, Beecham Pharma had divested half its equity holding to Asta Medica. Nordmark held 4.62 per cent of German Remedies equity, while Beecham had divested approximately 2.31 per cent of its stake in the company to Asta.

The latest equity reshuffle at German Remedies comes at a time when there has been prolonged market speculation that another two collaborators --- Boehringer Ingelheim and Schering AG, may set up their own marketing networks to penetrate the Indian market. There is, however, no official word on this.