India Inc is going global. The recent acquisition of Singapore-based fast moving consumer goods company L.D. Waxson Group by Wipro for Rs 785 crore, and Sun Pharmaceuticals’ second acquisition in a month, of US-based generic drugs business URL Pharma, has signalled that some corporates are still jostling for space in the global economy.
Earlier in November, Sun Pharma had acquired skin treatment firm Dusa Pharmaceuticals for $230 million. As Raja Lahiri, partner, transaction advisory services at Grant Thornton, noted November has hosted several significant outbound deals in the pharma space.
For instance, the $220-million acquisition by Cipla in Cipla Medpro South Africa, or the $22-million acquisition by Trivitron Healthcare of Ani Labsystems, or even the $4-million acquisition by Indegene Lifesystems in Aptilon Holdings Inc’s physician marketing services business.
Singapore calling
Several Indian companies are keen to expand their footprint in the Asia-Pacific markets of Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Approximately 400 Indian companies have invested in these markets, especially in Singapore, over the past decade.
Some Indian majors such as Tata Communications, Punj Lloyd, Fortis Healthcare, GAIL’s LNG procurement hub, Adani, Godrej and Marico have expanded to these markets.
Recently, Tata Capital and Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to leverage on each other’s strengths. Under the MoU, Tata Capital Pte Ltd is to facilitate collaboration and information exchange between companies and the Economic Development Board in Singapore, and offer relevant strategic advice and financial solutions.
As an official pointed out, on condition of anonymity, “the strategy by which many Indian companies are expanding globally is distinctive. As Indian companies are relatively smaller versus the standards of global multinationals, their cross-border acquisitions also tend to be smaller. These deals are therefore, often carried out as part of a broader globalisation drive involving a string of strategically targeted acquisitions.”
This is particularly true for the Tata Group, which has looked to strengthen specific parts of the value chain and develop globally integrated offerings.