Sun Pharma to seek shareholders nod for Ranbaxy acquisition

Meeting between the companies will be held on Aug 22 at Vadodara

Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceutical Industries will seek shareholders nod for its $4 billion acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories in a court convened meeting on August 22.

In a filing to the BSE, the company said the meeting would be held at Vadodara on August 22, 2014.

The company said the Gujarat High Court had issued an order on July 16, directing the company to hold a meeting of its equity shareholders to consider and approve the scheme of arrangement between Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy.

In April this year in one of the biggest deals involving two Indian drug makers, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries had announced it would fully acquire rival Ranbaxy Laboratories in an all-stock transaction valued at $3.2 billion along with nearly $800 million debt of the Gurgaon based firm.

Post the deal, the combined entity would become the largest pharmaceutical company in India, with an estimated combined revenue of $4.2 billion, and the fifth-largest specialty generics company in the world.

The deal has however come under scanner of the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for alleged insider trading violations.

Last week Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have given 'no-objection' to the deal although the two companies are yet to get an approval from the Competition Commission of India.