Some of the promoters of SeQuent Scientific Ltd. have agreed to sell stake to Carlyle Group as part of a transaction that will give the private equity firm up to 74 percent ownership in the maker of pharma ingredients and animal health products.
Seventeen promoter entities have agreed to sell a combined 11.1 crore shares or 44.92 percent stake to a Carlyle Group subsidiary, CA Harbor Investments, SeQuent Scientific informed the stock exchanges. Carlyle Group will buy 1.4 crore shares or 5.69 percent from Ascent SPA, a non-promoter entity.
The buyout firm will acquire shares at Rs 86 apiece or Rs 1,081.1 crore, a 7 percent premium over SeQuent's closing price on Friday.
Carlyle will then make the mandatory open offer managed by Nomura for 6.4 crore shares at Rs 86 or a total of Rs 555.4 crore. Under the takeover code of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, an investor buying more than 25 percent in a listed company has to make an open offer to buy an additional 26 percent from public shareholders.
The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the quarter ending September this year.
There's an option for the promoter group, which owns 56.15 percent, to sell another 11.23 percent of the expanded voting share capital of the company.
Carlyle Group's investments in the Indian healthcare sector include Medanta Medicity Hospital in Delhi-NCR and Metropolis Healthcare Ltd., which operates a chain of diagnostic centres and laboratories.
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