Novartis to make offer to increase stake in Indian firm
25 Mar 2009
Novartis is to put in an offer of around $87 million (£59.5 million) to strengthen its stake in an Indian subsidiary.
On completion of the deal, the Swiss company would own around 90 per cent of its Asian counterpart, building upon its current investment of 50.9 per cent.
Novartis' offer for the shares is expected to open in May and is dependent on approval from the appropriate regulatory bodies.
The firm stresses that so far it has made "neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of Novartis India Ltd."
It states that the offer will be made to public shareholders at a price of 351 rupees (£4.73) per share.
Meanwhile, Roche announced recently that it is to acquire biotechnology firm innovatis for 15 million euros (£13.9 million) after the companies signed a definitive merger agreement.
Under the terms of the deal, the privately-held German enterprise will become a fully-integrated part of Roche Applied Science.
