Tokyo/New Delhi : Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo will sell part or all of its holding in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries which its received following the merger of Ranbaxy into the Indian pharma major.
Daiichi Sankyo said it would not be a major shareholder in Sun Pharma although its existing business partnership with the Indian firm would remain.
“The board of directors of Daiichi Sankyo Company, Ltd approved a resolution on April 20, to sell entire or part of its holding of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd shares,” the Japanese firm said in a statement.
After the sale, Daiichi Sankyo will not be a major shareholder of Sun Pharma, it added.
Last month, Sun Pharma had announced completion of merger of Ranbaxy with itself, almost a year after announcing the USD 4 billion deal.
As part of the deal, Ranbaxy shareholders were to receive 0.8 Sun Pharma shares for every Ranbaxy share they held.
Daiichi Sankyo, which had acquired majority stake in Ranbaxy in 2008 for around Rs 22,000 crore, held 63.4 per cent in the Gurgaon-based firm at the time of its merger with Sun.
As of April 16, 2015, Daiichi owned 21,49,69,058 shares of Sun Pharma, the Japanese drug maker added.
Shares of Sun Pharma today ended at Rs 1,044.10, marginally higher by 0.66 per cent over previous close on BSE.
“From the perspective of the improvement of corporate value, Daiichi Sankyo has performed a review of the Sun Pharma shares and reached a conclusion to sell the shares entirely or partially,” it said.
However, the existing business partnership with Sun Pharma will remain unchanged, the Japanese drug maker said.
Daiichi Sankyo said it will make an announcement concerning the effect of any gain or loss on the sale of Sun Pharma shares when results of operations for the fiscal year ending in March 2015 are announced.
The merger with Ranbaxy has fortified Sun Pharma’s position as the world’s fifth largest specialty generic pharma firm and the top-ranking domestic pharma company with significant lead in the market share.
