Laurus Labs, the Rs 1200 crore manufacturer of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) has raised Rs 550 crore by shedding a minority stake to Bluewater, an affiliate of global private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

It will now join Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI) and Boston-based Fidelity Biosciences as investors, who led an earlier round of investment to the tune of around Rs 200 crore in 2012.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, nor the percentage of equity by the company. Jefferies acted as the sole financial advisor in this transaction.

Laurus, the Visakhapatnam-based company is a leading manufacturer of APIs for anti-retroviral (ARV), oncology, cardio-vascular, anti-diabetic therapeutic segments. The present funds raised will be deployed to expand the manufacturing units in Visakhapatnam. At present, the company has two units in the Jawaharlal Pharma City and one in the nearby Atchuthapuram. These will be expanded in capacities and will help broaden the product base of the company, Ravi Kumar, Executive Director of the company told Business Line.

Laurus Labs has its research and development laboratories called Aptuit Laurus, a joint venture between Aptuit Inc. US a key technology partner (who invested upto Rs 100 crore in 2007) and Laurus Labs in Hyderabad. 

Satyanarayana Chava, Founder and CEO of Laurus said in addition to securing growth capital, the partnership with Warburg Pincus’ deep domain expertise and global network of relationships will be leveraged to enter new markets and expand customer base.

Niten Malhan, Managing Director and co-head of Warburg Pincus India Pvt Ltd said in a statement, "This investment reflects Warburg Pincus’ core philosophy of partnering with distinctive management teams to create durable businesses of scale with sustainable value".

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW