The Hindu Business Line : Acquisitions on the radar for Ranbaxy's promoter-scions

EYING BUYS: (From right) Mr Malvinder M. Singh, Chairman, Religare and CEO & MD, Ranbaxy Laboratories, with Mr Sunil Godhwani, CEO & Managing Director, Religare, and Mr Shivinder M. Singh, Director, Religare and MD, Fortis Healthcare, at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday. — Paul Noronha

Mumbai , May 25

After three overseas acquisitions on a trot in March, one would think home-spun drug-maker Ranbaxy's appetite for the same would be a little satiated. But it does not seem so, with both brothers of the Ranbaxy-promoter family having acquisitions on their mind in their respective businesses.

"This is not the end," Mr Malvinder Mohan Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Ranbaxy Laboratories told Business Line, indicating that acquisition-plans were alive in Europe, the United States and India.

Consolidation

Consolidation is on the cards, he said, adding that it was "way overdue" in India. There were several "soft" reasons for acquisitions not happening in the domestic market, including the fact that some companies were family-run, he observed.

However, he added, one trigger would set the process on the roll, as seen in markets overseas.

In just one week in March, Ranbaxy acquired Belgium's Ethimed NV, GlaxoSmithKline's generic business Allen SpA of Italy and Terapia in Romania.

Ranbaxy has got a green signal for an enabling resolution to raise up to $1.5 billion through appropriate securities and had raised $440 million through the foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

Inorganic growth is one of the strategies that younger brother Mr Shivinder Mohan Singh, too, would adopt to grow the Fortis network of hospitals across the country.

The junior Mr Singh is Managing Director of Fortis Healthcare, promoted by the Ranbaxy-family.

National footprint

Fortis has a strong foot-hold in the northern region, with about 12 hospitals. But the healthcare company looks to establish a national footprint, Mr Shivinder Singh told this correspondent.

Three more hospitals are slated for the year, he said and added they could be in locations across the country.

Mumbai, considered to be a real-estate nightmare for companies harbouring retail plans, is also on the radar, eventually, he said. Fortis has had interactions with private equity investors, he admitted, unwilling to get into specifics.

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