A complete buyout of the Israel-based Taro Pharmaceuticals could cost Mumbai-based drug maker, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, up to Rs 1,000 crore. “If we are able to get all the shares of Taro Pharmaceuticals, including promoters’ shares, then the total cost would be up to Rs 1,000 crore,” Sun Pharmaceutical Industries chairman Dilip Shanghvi said here on Monday.

Referring to the Taro deal, company officials said, “We are actually aiming at acquiring the promoters’ shares alongwith whatever shares we get in the tender offer that’s currently on. At the lower end, our estimate is that it should take about Rs 200 crore, while at the higher end may be around Rs 1,000 crore. So that’s the range that we are looking at. In all, we have Rs 3,500 crore with cash bank as well as all investments combined, which should be enough for us to complete the deal that we have launched.”

For the Taro deal, Sun Pharma is currently awaiting a nod from the Supreme Court of Israel to close the open offer. Sun Pharma made its first attempt to acquire Taro in May 2007. After failed attempts to reach an amicable out of court acquisition deal, the entire process got delayed due to pending litigations.

Sun Pharmaceutical currently holds around 36% stake in Taro. Sun Pharma and Taro had entered into a $454-million merger agreement in May 2007 which was terminated by Taro, which charged Sun Pharma of under valuation. Subsequently, both companies waged war against each other by filing suits. Later, Sun Pharma launched the open offer to acquire additional shares of the Israeli drug company.

Sun launched an open offer at a price of $7.75 per share in June last year through its subsidiary to acquire all shares of Taro, which was again legally challenged by the latter. The Supreme court has currently prohibited Sun Pharma from closing the offer until it gave a verdict on the issue. It also plans to approach the US FDA to seek approval of around 30 new generic products this year, Shanghvi is learnt to have told analysts in a conference call. After its expenditure on organic growth requirements, Sun Pharma “will be left with enough funds for a decent size acquisition, if need be without recourse to outside financing,” Shanghvi added.