Exciting news broke on April 24, 2023, as lpca Laboratories Limited announced that it had entered into a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of a whopping 33.38 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital of Unichem Laboratories Limited. The acquisition was made from one of the company’s promoters, Dr Prakash Amrut Mody, at a price of Rs. 440 per equity share, amounting to a grand total of Rs 1034.06 crores.
However, this acquisition triggered an open offer under SEBI SAST regulations, as the acquirer, Ipca Laboratories, was acquiring more than the threshold limit. As a result, Ipca Laboratories made an open offer to the public equity shareholders of Unichem Laboratories, offering to acquire up to 26 per cent of the equity share capital at a price of Rs 440 per share, which is about a 13.4 per cent premium of the last closing price on NSE of 388.05.
The acquisition is subject to approval from CCI, but the potential benefits of this acquisition are enormous. Unichem Laboratories is an international, integrated, specialty pharmaceutical company that manufactures and markets a large basket of pharmaceutical formulations as branded generics as well as generics in several countries across the globe, with major markets being the United States of America and Europe.