True North Buys 2.44% Stake In Biocon Biologics At $3 Billion Valuation
True North has acquired stake in Biocon Biosimilars for $100 million. Parent Biocon continues to own 96.07% stake.
True North has acquired a stake in Biocon Biologics India Ltd., a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd., valuing the company at $3 billion.
The homegrown private equity fund acquired a 2.44 percent minority stake in the pure-play biosimilar company worth Rs 536.25 crore ($100 million), according to an exchange filing by the parent company. Bengaluru-headquartered Biocon will continue to own the majority 96.07 percent stake in Biocon Biologics, the filing said.
The deal values the subsidiary at Rs 21,450 crore, or around $3 billion, on a pre-money equity basis—the value of a company not including external funding or the latest round of funding.
True North has previously been an investor in both Biocon and Syngene International Ltd. prior to their listing.
Biocon Chairperson and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw called the investment a “validation” of Biocon Biologics’ abilities and scope.
“This is at an important inflection point as we gain commercial success with our first wave of biosimilar products and invest in the long term through broadening our pipeline, expanding our manufacturing capacity and increasing our commercial footprint,” Shaw was quoted as saying in a statement accompanying the filing.
The investment will help the subsidiary reach its goal of serving 5 million patients through its biosimilars portfolio and reaching a revenue target of $1 billion by 2021-22, its Chief Executive Officer Christiane Hamacher said. Later in the day, the company announced the appointment of Syngene’s MB Chinappa as its chief financial officer.
On Monday, Biocon shares fell 4.24 percent to Rs 288.20 apiece on the NSE while the benchmark Nifty 50 fell 4.91 percent to end the day at 11,993.05 points.