Carlyle Group to buy 74% in SeQuent Scientific for over Rs 1,500 crore

Private equity player The Carlyle Group has signed up to acquire a majority 74 per cent stake in Mumbai-headquartered animal health care company SeQuent Scientific for over Rs 1,500 crore.

The transaction is being done through an equity purchase stake that values each share at Rs 86. The deal will be executed through two investment vehicles — CA Harbor Investments, affiliated entity of CAP V Mauritius, which is an affiliated entity of Carlyle. The deal is first control investment in an Indian publicly-listed company for Carlyle.
 

Carlyle's global portfolio in the animal nutrition and health care sectors include Manna Pro Products, which manufactures and markets animal feeds, Saprogal, a manufacturer and supplier of animal nutrition products in Spain and Portugal, and CP Pokphand, a livestock feed producer in China.

 

Carlyle has invested around $2.5 billion in India over the past two decades and key transactions have included investments in SBI Life, SBI Cards, Medanta Medicity, and Metropolis Healthcare.
 

Under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) takeover regulations, the transaction on which Nomura was the adviser will trigger a mandatory open offer by CA Harbor Investments and CAP V Mauritius for the purchase of a maximum up to 26 per cent equity shares of SeQuent from public shareholders.
 

SeQuent's promoters hold around 56 per cent of the company, and the deal is expected to close by August, pending customary regulatory approvals.
 

SeQuent provides animal health active pharmaceutical ingredients formulations and analytical services in over 100 countries, with more than 1,700 employees and manufacturing operations in India, Spain, Turkey, Germany, and Brazil.