NPIL ropes in McKinsey for total integration

Mumbai: The domestic pharma company Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL) has roped in the management consultancy firm McKinsey for the total integration of the business of the recently-acquired ICI Pharmaceuticals with NIPL.

It is expected that the integration process between the two companies will be completed in three months and it would enable NPIL to leverage on the inherent strength of ICI to expand its products portfolio as well as the business reach in both the domestic and export markets.

Confirming this development, a senior NPIL executive said: “Post-integration, NIPL will emerge as the leader in the cardiovascular and critical-care segments and will also acquire significant presence in bulk drug exports.”

Currently, ICI India’s brands are the market leaders in the cardiovascular segment. ICI manufactures well-known brands like Tenormin, Tenormin, Inderal, Zestril, Tenochlor in the cardiovascular segment and Fluothane and Diprivan in the critical-care segment.

The NPIL executive said McKinsey integration will be focused on features like inventory, supply-chain management, sales in domestic and export market and manufacturing.

In January 2002, NPIL had acquired ICI India’s pharma business for a total consideration of Rs 70 crore. ICI has been the leader in the cardiovascular segment and the buyout by NPIL was largely due to the reason that it did not have any presence in the said segment.

The ICI acquisition has also provided a readymade export market to NPIL for select niche or speciality bulk drugs like Halothane and Monosulfiram sans any competition from India, though there is a limited international competition.

“The ICI integration is extremely significant from our analysis of the changing patterns of the global pharma market. The market is showing a significant shift in patterns with growth emerging from traditional segments like anti-infectives, gastro-intestinals and dermatology products to lifestyle products like cardiovascular and central nervous system drugs, with a sociological changes impacting disease patterns. The cardiovascular drugs market in India is about Rs 1,300 crore and is growing at 21 per cent annually,” the NPIL executive said.

He said post-merger, it is expected that the turnover would rise to over Rs 1,000 crore during the current fiscal. “The company, which registered a total income of about Rs 69 crore last year, may witness a near doubling of its turnover to Rs 70 to 75 crore this fiscal.”