Once biz is larger, we will look for partners: Sudhir Valia

Interview with Promoter, Sun Pharma

For India Inc, Sudhir Valia was an unknown figure till yesterday. The chartered accountant is now in the limelight after his company, Lakshdeep Investments & Finance, decided to acquire a minority stake in Telenor’s India arm. In an interview with Reghu Balakrishnan, Valia, promoter of India’s largest drug manufacturer, Sun Pharma, talks on his latest investment: Edited excerpts:

What prompted the diversification into the telecom sector?
As an investor, this is one of our many investments. We have already invested in a lot of companies. We started investing in a power project and also acquired stake in Fortune Financial Services. We also plan more investments in various sectors. This would go on.

Why Telenor?
As I said, this is one of our investments and we consider it to be on par with other investments. Telenor is an established company and has been in India for a couple of years. We found the partnership with them an interesting one.

What is the size of the investment and the stake buyout?
All this is related to the future transaction. We have agreed to a stake buyout and the exact details would be known later. It is a new company they have started. They can hold 74 per cent, not more.

Any plan to invest in the Telenor arm?
The future is based on options and opportunities. As a business, we would make additional investments at the right time. It is too early to discuss future investments.

Are you planning to bring any new investor?
Once the business is larger, we may explore the possibility of bringing more partners.

How did you come into the picture?
According to regulatory requirements, they were looking for a partnership. We, too, were considering an investment opportunity and we though the company was the right investment target.