Strides may buy Aussie arm's listed shares

Strides Arcolab, the Bangalore-based injectable manufacturer, wants to delist its Australian subsidiary Ascent Pharmahealth Ltd by acquiring the publicly held shares. It currently owns a 57 per cent stake in Ascent.

The company said it also wanted to include Dennis Bastas, founder and chief executive officer of Ascent, as an equity participant in the company, besides wishing the current executive management team to continue.

In a press release today, Strides confirmed its interest in acquiring the shares, but said it had not made a formal proposal in this regard. “The discussions may or may not lead to an agreed transaction,” the company stated.

The indicative proposal involves a cash offer of Australian $0.35 (Rs 14.6) per Ascent share, which represents an enterprise value of A$ 100 million (Rs 415.7 crore) for the company. The proposal is at an 84 per cent premium to the 12-month weighted average share price of A$0.19 (Rs 7.9), the company statement said.

Strides had recently acquired a manufacturing unit in Brazil from South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare for $75 million (Rs 341.7 crore). It registered annual sales of Rs 1,328.3 crore in 2009.