India's Sun Pharma to buy remaining stake in Israeli unit Taro for about $348 mln

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

17/01/2024 23:22

Jan 17 (Reuters) - India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
Limited  SUN.NS  said on Wednesday it would buy all the shares
of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries  TARO.N  it does not already
own for $43 per share in cash, effectively taking full control
of its unit. 
    Sun Pharma's offer amounts to about $347.8 million, as per
Reuters calculations, with the per share value at a 4.2% premium
to Taro's close on Wednesday.
    The Indian drugmaker, which currently owns about 78.5% stake
in Taro, had offered to buy its remaining stake for $38 per
share in May.
    The deal comes as a culmination to nearly 17 years of back
and forth to gain full control of the U.S.-listed generic
drugmaker which does most of its business in the United States
and Canada.   
    Upon completion of the merger, which is expected to close in
the first half of the year, Taro would become a privately held
company and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange,
the companies said.
    The U.S. government had in November dismissed charges
against a former Taro executive who was accused of conspiring to
fix generic drug prices between 2013 and 2015.
    Taro in July 2020 agreed to pay more than $200 million to
resolve criminal price-fixing allegations amid a broad crackdown
by the Justice Department on alleged pricing abuses in the
generic drug market.

 (Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
 ((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com;))