Sun Pharma shares tank 11% as Daiichi completes exit

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical plunged nearly 11 per cent after Japan's Daiichi Sankyo announced selling its entire holding in the Indian drug major for an estimated Rs 20,420 crore.
The stock made a weak opening and further lost 10.63 per cent to Rs 933.10 on the BSE.
On the NSE, it slumped 10.9 per cent to Rs 930.
Led by the sharp fall in its stock price, the company's market valuation fell by Rs 23,453 crore to Rs 2,28,190.8 crore.
In a statement today, Daiichi said: "The sale of Sun Pharma shares has been completed."
The company further said it has sold its entire holding of 21,49,69,058 shares in Sun Pharmaceutical. At the average share price of about Rs 950, the value of its shares would be Rs 20,420 crore.

Yesterday, Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd had announced its decision to sell "the entire or part of its holdings of Sun Pharmaceutical shares..."

It further said: "Daiichi Sankyo will make an announcement concerning the effect of any gain or loss on the sale of Sun Pharma shares when results of operations for the fiscal year ending in March 2015 are announced."
Daiichi got around 9 per cent stake in Sun Pharma following the merger of Ranbaxy with the Indian pharma major.
"The board of directors of Daiichi Sankyo Company Ltd approved a resolution on April 20 to sell entire or part of its holding of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd shares," the Japanese firm said in a statement.

Last month, Sun Pharma had announced completion of merger of Ranbaxy with itself, almost a year after announcing the USD 4-billion deal.
As part of the deal, Ranbaxy shareholders were to receive 0.8 Sun Pharma shares for every Ranbaxy share they held.
Daiichi Sankyo, which had acquired a majority stake in Ranbaxy in 2008 for around Rs 22,000 crore, held 63.4 per cent in the Gurgaon-based firm at the time of the merger.
"From the perspective of the improvement of corporate value, Daiichi Sankyo has performed a review of the Sun Pharma shares and reached a conclusion to sell the shares entirely or partially," it said.

The merger with Ranbaxy has fortified Sun Pharma's position as the world's fifth largest specialty generic pharma firm and the top-ranking domestic one with a significant lead in the market share.