Putting all speculation to rest, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and Japanese pharma major, Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd (Daiichi Sankyo) on Thursday came out with a joint statement reiterating that the agreement between the two companies and the promoter Singh family, the largest controlling shareholders of Ranbaxy, is binding and final, subject to regulatory approvals.
“Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy and the Singh family remain committed to the transaction and to the vision of creating a complementary business combination that provides sustainable growth by diversification and an enhanced global reach. Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy and the Singh family stand by the deal and confirm that the terms of the deal remain unchanged. All the synergies expected to accrue to the combine, remain intact as before,” the joint statement said.
It further said that the share purchase and subscription agreement had been earlier unanimously approved by the boards of both the companies. “With the approval now in place from the shareholders, this clears the decks for the deal to proceed as planned,” the statement added.
On Wednesday, Malvinder Singh, CEO, Ranbaxy, had leveled charges against an unnamed pharma multinational, a leading Indian company and some stockbrokers who, he said, in a concerted effort, have manipulated the market which resulted in share prices sliding by 23% to touch a 17-year low on Tuesday, a price not reflective of the true potential of the company. However, post the Ranbaxy chief’s clarification that the deal in question is on track, Ranbaxy ended up as the top gainer in the stock market, up 15.02% to close at Rs 470.70 on Wednesday.
The company got mired in controversies since the beginning of this month, when on July 3, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a motion at the district court of Maryland accusing the company of adulteration and concealing information from USFDA.
In a response filed, Ranbaxy refuted all allegations and agreed to release all audits (conducted by Parexel) required by DoJ.
Last month ( June 11), Ranbaxy had announced that the promoters have signed a share-purchase agreement with Daiichi Sankyo to sell off their entire stake of 34.8% in the company to the Japanese drugmaker at Rs 737 per share. Daiichi was to follow it up with an open offer to buy up to 20% stake from the share holders at the same price.