Pharmaceuticals major Lupin Limited on Tuesday said it would spin off its consumer healthcare business, LupinLife Consumer Healthcare Ltd. (LCH), into a wholly owned subsidiary. The restructuring, the company said in an exchange notification, would allow it to grow the business by making targetted investments and expanding market share. The move is part of Lupin’s broader strategy to create a specialised consumer healthcare entity, particularly aimed at capitalising on India’s burgeoning self-care market.
LupinLife Consumer Healthcare has emerged a strong over-the- counter healthcare business with a portfolio of scientifically formulated and trusted brands such as Softovac, Beplex Forte, Corcium and Aptivate.
Experts pointed out that the strategy to create a separate outfit for consumer healthcare products in line with that of other industry players who had also decided to have separate entities for the self-care vertical.
Earlier this year, Lupin had said it was transferring its over-the-counter (OTC) consumer healthcare business to a wholly owned subsidiary for ₹550-650 crore. The rationale in separating OTC as an independent entity positioned it “to thrive in the rapidly growing OTC market while allowing it to sharpen its focus on core strengths in prescription drugs,” the company had noted at the time.
The revenue of the OTC consumer healthcare business for FY24 for brands proposed to be hived off was estimated at about ₹148 crore, or about 1% of the turnover of the company on a standalone basis for FY24 (₹14,666 crore), it added.