Khaitan & Co has guided its longstanding client Torrent Pharmaceuticals on its acquisition of up to 75 percent shareholding in JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals from private equity giant KKR, valuing JB Pharma at INR 25,689 crores. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co acted for JB Pharma and KKR while AZB & Partners advised the board of directors of JB Pharma.
Torrent will acquire 46.39 percent stake for INR 11,917 crore and additional potential acquisition of up to 2.80 percent at INR 719 crore, aggregating to 49.19 percent, which will trigger a mandatory open offer of 26 percent at 6,843 crore followed by a merger through a Scheme of Arrangement.
This will be the second biggest deal in the pharma sector ever, behind Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ 2015 acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories.
Khaitan’s team was led by partners Bhavik Narsana and Mehul Shah. Partners Arindam Ghosh (SEBI) and Anshuman Sakle (competition law) assisted on the deal.
The AZB deal team was led by senior partner Vaidhyanadhan Iyer and partner Jeet Chaudhuri, and included counsel Himanshoo Tembe and senior associate Sana Nagar.
