Lupin acquires majority stake in Australian firm

Drug firm Lupin today said it has acquired a majority stake in Australia's Generic Health for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition has been done by the Netherlands-based wholly-owned subsidiary, Lupin Holdings BV (LHBV), through a subscription of rights issue, Lupin said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

LHBV has increased its stake in the Australian firm to 57 per cent from 49.91 per cent.

Last fiscal, Lupin had increased its stake in Generic Health to 49.9 per cent from 36 per cent held earlier.

"Australia is a very strategic market to us. It is a $9 billion market out of which the generics share is over $one billion," Lupin CFO Ramesh Swaminathan told PTI.

With the acquisition of controlling stake in Generic Health, the company is looking to strengthen its presence in the Australian market, he added.

Swaminathan said Lupin has built up a sizable amount of product pipeline in therapeutic areas of heart ailments, diabetes and over the counter products, intended for the Australian market.

Lupin has filed regulatory approvals for many of these products from the Australian authorities and is looking to bank on the network of Generic Health, which supplies generic medicines to pharmacists and hospitals throughout the country.

Shares of Lupin today closed at Rs 386.30 on the BSE, down 2.25 per cent from its previous close.