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India drug firm Ranbaxy bids for Merck unit
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 17:30 IST
FRANKFURT: Indian drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories has submitted a bid for the generics unit of Germany's Merck KGaA but hasn't disclosed how much it was offering.
Merck's generics unit could be worth as much as 5 billion euros, or about $7.75 billion (Canadian) say analysts. Last year, the unit's sales rose 6.9 percent to 1.8 billion euros.
Ranbaxy said the bid had been submitted to the German drug and chemical maker. Chief Executive Dr. Malvinder Singh said to a national daily, his company would not get caught up in a bidding war for the unit.
"We are looking to evaluate the asset and we are going to be very practical about it," he said in a statement yesterday. "We are not in a rat race for acquisitions but are focused on creating value for our shareholders in the best way we can.
In Mumbai, pharmaceutical company Cipla Ltd. confirmed yesterday that it is part of a consortium of private equity firms that also has submitted a bid for Merck's generic drugs unit. "Cipla is not bidding but Cipla is part of the consortium that is bidding," said Amar Lulla, Cipla's joint managing director. "Cipla is going to provide the technology and the management for the project."
Merck, the world's oldest pharmaceuticals firm, said last month it had started contacting companies that may be interested in buying its generic drugs unit.