Uganda's Cipla Quality Chemical Industries says plans IPO, listing

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By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan drugmaker Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Ltd said on Thursday it plans an initial public offering and a listing on the East African country's stock exchange.

The company said each of its shareholders would be "selling a minority of their stakes" in the IPO and that the transaction and potential listing had received regulatory approvals.

The drug maker, majority-owned by India's pharmaceutical giant Cipla, was established in 2005 and has a manufacturing plant in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

It makes a range of drugs including antiretrovirals, anti-malaria and Hepatitis B and C drugs which it sells mostly in sub-Saharan African countries.

The firm said as part of its growth strategy it "has been evaluating an initial public offering and listing of its issued share capital on Uganda Securities Exchange."

Cipla, according to a statement, will still maintain a majority stake even after the IPO but the firm did not state how much equity would be offered for sale in the IPO.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Omar Mohammed and Kirsten Donovan)