Mankind Pharma is likely to be making a bid in a consortium to acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV), which has been put on the block by Advent International, sources said.

The Delhi-based pharmaceuticals company is understood to be in talks with several global private equity firms for a collaboration to make a joint bid, sources said. Top PE firms, who are active and have a large presence in India such as Blackstone Inc, KKR, Permira, Bain Capital, Carlyle and some others are interested in buying BSV and submitted their non-binding bids last month.

While Mankind Pharma is in talks with the PE firms, not all of them are looking for a collaboration. Blackstone, for instance, is understood to have submitted two individual bids and is not interested in a collaboration, sources said.

Mankind Pharma did not respond to an email seeking comment, while Blackstone had no comments to offer.

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Advent International is seeking to sell for more than $2 billion, though sources indicated that the transaction is likely to be in the range of $1.5-1.8 billion.

QIP fundraising

Mankind Pharma, the fourth largest drug manufacturer in India in terms of sales, is planning to raise up to ₹7,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement and has also increased the borrowing limit to ₹12,500 crore.

Last month, in its earnings call to discuss FY24 results as well as in the postal ballot notice to seek shareholder approval for the fund raise, the company said it was preparing itself for potential acquisitions, “big and small assets”, and to keep a war chest ready. It had termed reports of its potential interest in Bharat Serums as ‘speculative.’

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Sources said that it is amassing enough potential firepower to fund the acquisition on its own, though it was likely to take the help of another investor to avoid stretching its balance sheet. The funds would also be required for organic growth.

 The company ended last fiscal year with net cash of ₹3,260 crore on its books. Its revenue rose 18 per cent to ₹10,335, EBITDA was up 33 per cent at ₹2,550 crore while net profit rose 48 per cent to ₹1,942 crore.

BSV, in comparison, reported consolidated revenue of ₹1,455.3 crore in FY23 and net profit of ₹47.7 crore. On a standalone basis, it reported net profit of ₹9.4 crore on revenue of ₹1,207 crore. It manufactures a range of biological, biotech products focused on women’s health and critical care.

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