CHINESE GIANT FOSUN TO ACQUIRE INDIA’S GLAND PHARMA

In the largest acquisition of an Indian company by a Chinese firm, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co on Thursday (July 28) agreed to buy Hyderabad-based drugmaker Gland Pharma Ltd for about USD 1.26 billion (nearly Rs 85 billion).

Fosun Pharma will acquire 86 per cent of Gland Pharma for USD 1.26 billion, the KKR-backed Indian firm said in a statement adding that a definitive agreement has been signed for the deal.

Gland Pharma's founders and US private equity firm KKR, who jointly hold around 96 per cent of the drugmaker, will sell most of their stake to Fosun.

"Based on the agreement, Fosun Pharma will purchase all shares of Gland owned by KKR Floorline Investments Pte Ltd in addition to shares purchased from other shareholders of the company," it said.

Gland founder P V N  Raju and his son Dr Ravi Penmetsa will continue to be on the Board, and Dr Penmetsa will continue as the Managing Director and CEO. The family will retain a stake in Gland.

Established in 1978, Gland develops and manufactures generic injectables for use in nearly 90 countries on five continents, with a focus on the Indian and US markets. It owns four factories.

Injectables are widely used medicines administered through vials, syringes, bags and pumps and are harder to make than regular medicines. KKR, which invested in Gland in 2014, is exiting the firm completely.

While privately held Gland Pharma's line up of therapies includes antibiotics, oncology and cardiology treatments; Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma's product lines range widely from cardiovascular drugs and cancer treatments to diagnosis equipment and scalpels.

"We looked at many partners with the help of KKR and as we went through this process we felt Fosun suits us the best because they are a conglomerate, they have a lot of resources, they are worldwide and they also have Fosun Pharmaceutical which is a multinational. They have a presence in Israel, they have R&D in the US," Penmetsa said.

The Chinese firm has several R&D centres and manufacturing in China and they are also strong in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), he added. "So, we felt that this will really compliment what we already created."

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THERESA MAY TO TAKE OVER AS NEW BRITISH PRIME MINISTER

A file pic of Theresa May Theresa May will take over as new Prime Minister on Wednesday (July 13) , British Premier David Cameron said on Monday after the home secretary's only rival in the race to become Conservative Party leader pulled out unexpectedly.

Cameron said he will chair his last Cabinet meeting tomorrow and attend House of Commons for his last Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday before heading to Buckingham Palace to offer his official resignation to Queen Elizabeth II.

'We will have a new Prime Minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening,' Cameron told reporters outside 10 Downing Street.

'I am delighted Theresa May will be Prime Minister. She has the overwhelming support of the Conservative parliamentary party...she is strong, she is competent, she is more than able to provide the leadership that our country is going to need in the years ahead,' said Cameron, who had announced he would be stepping down for a new prime minister to take the Brexit negotiations forward with the European Union a day after the June 23 vote in favour of Britain leaving the economic bloc.

59-year-old May would become Britain's second female Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher.Earlier on Monday, May's only rival Andrea Leadsom pulled out from the two-way contest for the Conservative party leadership in a dramatic move, leaving May sole contender.

Leadsom, who was energy minister in the Cameron-led Cabinet, threw her support behind May as 'ideally placed' to enforce the vote for Brexit in last month’s referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU).

"The interests of our country are best served from the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported Prime Minister. I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish Theresa May the very greatest success.I assure her of my full support,' Leadsom told reporters.
"The best interests of our country inspired me to stand for our leadership. I believe in leaving the EU a bright future awaits. The referendum result represented a clear desire for change,' the 53-year-old senior Tory MP said.

It then fell to the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs to decide the revised timetable for the leadership race.


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