Ranbaxy subsidiaries make open offer for Fine Drugs

Our Corporate Bureau

Hyderabad, Jan 4: Both the subsidiaries of Ranbaxy Laboratories — Vorin Laboratories Ltd and Oscar Investments Ltd — have proposed to increase their stake in the sick Hyderabad-based bulk drug manufacturer, Fine Drugs and Chemicals Ltd (FDCL) by making open offer to the existing shareholders. Both the companies have made an open offer to the FDCL shareholders to further acquire 12,57,200 fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10 each, representing 20 per cent of the voting capital of FDCL, at a price of Rs 4.20 a share, a notice from SMIFS Capital Markets Ltd, the manager to the proposed open offer, informed the HSE here on Friday. The acquisition is being made to consolidate the shareholding in the sick FDCL by Vorin Laboratories along with its associate Oscar Investments. The offer opens on February 25, 2002 and closes on March 26, 2002 subsequent to the obtaining of necessary approvals. The open offer is in pursuant of both Vorin Laboratories and Oscar Investments MoU with L Madhusudhan Reddy and his 30 other associates on January 2, 2002 to acquire an aggregate of 10,09,300 fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10 each, constituting 16.06 per cent of the voting capital, at the rate of Rs 4 per share.

While Vorin Laboratories currently holding 43.49 per cent of the voting capital of the FDCL, the other Ranbaxy subsidiary Vidyut Investments Ltd is holding 0.07 per cent in the sick Hyderabad-based bulk drug manufacturing firm. The post-open offer would take the Ranbaxy subsidiaries’ holding in FDCL to 80 per cent.

Vorin in June last year has acquired 3,08,000 equity shares of FDCL at a price of Rs 11 per share from a single party and Vidyut has acquired 4,600 equity shares in March at a price of Rs 4.10 in the market.
FDCL, engaged in manufacturing bulk drug, was originally incorporated as a private limited company in 1987 and became public in 1992. The company is a sick industrial company and has been referred to BIFR.
As on March 31, 2001, FDCL registered a total income of Rs 4.77 crore and incurred a loss of Rs 1.77 crore. The paid-up equity capital as on March 31, 2001 was at Rs 6.28 crore with a reserve of Rs 22 lakhs and an accumulated loss of Rs 11.54 crore and a negative networth of Rs 5.83 crore.