Cabinet likely to clear Daiichi-Ranbaxy deal next month

Mumbai: The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) is expected to clear Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo's acquisition of a majority stake in domestic pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories when the issue comes up before it next month.

The Daiichi-Ranbaxy deal has already been approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and the deal would now have to be cleared by the finance minister and the CCEA.

The clearance for the deal was delayed as the FIPB, which earlier cleared the acquisition, had made a miscalculation and had to rework the figures since. The deal is valued at around Rs21,560 crore.

Since the FDI inflow involved in the deal is more than Rs600 crore, the call on its clearance has to be taken by the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA). Including the open offer, the Daiichi-Ranbaxy deal is valued at Rs21,560 crore.

Ranbaxy promoters had in June agreed to sell their 34.82 per cent stake in the company to Japanese pharma major for around Rs10,000 crore, following which Daiichi Sankyo also announced the launch of open offer for acquiring 20 per cent additional stake in the company as per Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines.