Finance ministry clears Daiichi-Ranbaxy deal among 24 FDI proposals

06 Aug 2008

Mumbai: The government today set its seal of approval on Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo's proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories, the country's largest pharmaceutical company by sales.

The finance ministry also cleared  23 other proposals involving foreign direct investments of Rs753.14 crore.

Finance minister P Chidambaram approved the FDI proposals on the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which took up these cases on July 29.

Daiichi's proposal involves subscription to equity shares of two Indian companies and issue of warrants amounting to Rs104.63 crore, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The Daiichi-Ranbaxy deal has already been cleared by market regulator securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) .

Daiichi had agreed to buy 34.8 per cent stake in Ranbaxy in June, and had offered to buy another 20 per cent in the Indian company for a total of $4.6 billion.