Bain dials Dr Reddy's Laboratories to team up for joint Cipla bid

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Bain Capital has approached Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) to explore a joint bid to buy out the promoters of Cipla, the Hamied family.
Last week, senior leadership from both sides met along with their advisors to discuss and formalise a strategy, said people aware of the development.

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DRL is believed to be evaluating the opportunity and countering the offer by Torrent Pharma, currently the sole Indian strategic investor in the fray. Torrent has submitted a non-binding bid for the Hamieds' stake in the 88-year-old company, competing against PE firms Blackstone and Baring Private Equity Asia-EQT (BPEA-EQT).

Bain Capital is also one of the private equity (PE) funds that Torrent has been in discussions with to raise as much as ₹8,300 crore ($1 billion) as part of its financing plan for a potential $7 billion-plus buyout, the largest ever in India, ET reported September 1.
If DRL decides to participate, then not only will it enhance the competitive bidding landscape for Cipla but the combined entity would also become the leading Indian-origin pharma major at home based on their FY23 revenue of ₹47,338 crore, with a consolidated market share of 8% (based on June 2023 Indian Pharma Market data).

Low promoter holding hurdle
It will also bag the top spot among Indian generic players in US and emerging markets.

Such an entity will be a formidable rival to Sun Pharma, the most valuable Indian player with a ₹2.65 lakh crore market capitalisation.
Bain declined to comment. DRL did not respond to ET's queries.

However, sources in