LIC trims stake in Ranbaxy from 8% to 6%

State-owned LIC has cut its stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories to a little over 6% by selling more than 2% stake over the past five years.

The country's largest insurer offloaded offloaded 45,08,036 shares, constituting 2.01 per in Ranbaxy between October 15, 2008 and December 20, 2013. The stake was offloaded through open markets, the pharma firm said in a BSE filing today.

During this period, Ranbaxy was taken over by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo. The company was also in various regulatory troubles during this period.

LIC's stake in Ranbaxy has come down to 6.13% from 8.15% during the period from October 15, 2008 and December 20, 2013.

Ranbaxy became a part of the Daiichi Sankyo Group in 2008 after Japan's third largest drug-maker bought a majority stake for Rs 22,000 crore. Since 2008, the company has been facing a series of issues with the USFDA.

In May this year, Ranbaxy had pleaded guilty to 'felony charges' relating to manufacture and distribution of certain 'adulterated' drugs made at two units in India to US authorities and had agreed to pay $500 million as penalty.

The company had admitted to past "shortcomings" but said it had rectified those and insisted that its drugs were safe and efficacious. It had also offered to co-operate fully with any regulator from anywhere in the world wanting to investigate its manufacturing practises.

Shares of Ranbaxy today closed at Rs 455.50 a piece on the BSE, up 0.21% from its previous close.