Dr Reddy's Seals ₹1,850 cr Deal For Big Chunk Of Wockhardt Biz

Distress sale gives Dr Reddy’s its rival’s Himachal factory & 62 branded products

Multinational pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is buying select divisions of its debt-ridden rival Wockhardt’s branded generics business in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives for Rs 1,850 crore in a distress sale, the two drugmakers said on Wednesday.

The deal, expected to be completed between April and June 2020, will give Dr Reddy’s control of Wockhardt’s manufacturing plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh along with the factory employees as well as 62 products under its branded business and related assets and liabilities, Wockhardt said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

The 62 brands span multiple therapy areas such as respiratory, neurology, VMS, dermatology, gastroenterology, pain and vaccines.

The sale proceeds will also go into strengthening the balance sheet of the company, while also being in line with its plan to shift from acute therapeutic areas to more chronic business like antidiabetes, central nervous system, etc and also to its niche antibiotic portfolio of new chemical entities, according to a Wockhardt release quoting founder-chairman Habil Khorakiwala.