Millipore forks out Rs 270 cr for control of Indian arm

Life science company NYSE listed Millipore Corporation is understood to have paid out Rs 270 crore to gain full control of its Indian arm. The company during November 2009 struck a deal to buy out the 60 per cent stake held by pharma entrepreneur Subhash Bagaria in the Bangalore-based joint venture of the firm.

Massachusetts-based Millipore provides products and services that help its academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers in their research, development and production of therapeutics, particularly biological drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins and vaccines. It reported a net income of $145 million on revenues of $1.6 billion for the last year.

The new Indian subsidiary will enable Millipore to invest in initiatives that will drive growth and expand its presence in India’s life science market. Millipore India has been consolidated into Millipore’s financial statements since 2006. The acquisition is expected to be accretive due to the elimination of the non-controlling interest.

A spokesperson for Millipore Corporation declined to comment on the pay out to Bagaria stating that “under provisions of the legal agreement between Millipore Corporation and Subash Bagaria, we are unable to discuss the financial terms of the deal.”

Bagaria is the CMD of contract drug maker Bangalore-based Kemwell Ltd, which in 2006 acquired Pfizer’s bulk drugs arm in Sweden. The Rs 300-crore privately-held Kemwell makes finished products for AstraZeneca, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Pfizer.

Millipore’s joint venture in India was formed in 1988 employs some 300 people and has offices in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Its clients include pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug manufacturers, researchers, scientists and academia.

According to Millipore, India represents a critical part of its strategy to increase its growth by expanding its presence in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and Singapore) countries. “Today, there are more than 80 plants in India approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to manufacture drugs and the country accounts for almost 25 per cent of the global generic drug market. Additionally, the Indian government has invested $1.7 billion to grow the country’s life science and biotechnology industries and several Indian companies have emerged as global competitors in the biopharmaceutical industry,” the company noted highlighting its move to gain control of the Indian operations.