New Delhi, June 9 -- A clutch of private equity investors including ChrysCapital, Malaysia's Creador and Bahrain-headquartered Investcorp are in an advanced stage of discussion to pick up significant minority stake in a domestic formulations manufacturer, at least two people aware of the development told VCCircle.

The investors are in the fray to invest in Linux Laboratories Pvt Ltd, which is primarily focussed on domestic formulations that treat disorders of the central nervous system.

The Chennai-based firm is planning to raise nearly $70 million (around Rs 667 crore) in this round of funding, one of the aforementioned individuals said. He added that the transaction is likely to include both primary and secondary components.

The company, which is backed by Tata Capital Healthcare fund, has appointed investment bank Avendus Capital to scout for potential suitors.

Email queries sent to Linux Laboratories and several of these investors remained unanswered till the time of publishing this news article. Investcorp declined to comment.

The company was founded in 2007 by Hariharan P, Keeerthivasan K and Ananda Kumar S. It manufactures and markets products across anti-epileptics, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, nerve pain management, nutraceuticals, brain tonics and hypnotics categories.

The company is said to have a product portfolio of more than 64 brands comprising a total of 180 SKUs.

The firm had secured Rs 80 crore from Tata Capital Healthcare Fund II in 2021.

The firm had posted consolidated net sales of Rs 280 crore in FY25 versus Rs 248 crore a year earlier. The company's PAT grew to Rs 25.9 crore from Rs 17.7 crore during the period under review.

The broader pharmaceuticals space in India has seen several consolidation moves by the local players as well as investments from private equity firms increasing its exposure in the segment.

For instance, Sun Pharmaceuticals recently struck one of the largest biopharma deals in recent times with its buyout of women's health centric brand Organon. The deal size was estimated to be around $11.75 billion.

Last month, Everstone Capital, a Singapore-headquartered private equity firm that invests in India and Southeast Asia, had committed to invest $270 million in Gujarat- based Apothecon Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd and its US-based sister concern Navinta.

In February, homegrown private equity firm ChrysCapital had agreed to acquire Swiss pharmaceutical major Novartis AG's entire stake in its Mumbai-listed unit for $159 million.

In December, Senores Pharmaceuticals Ltd had acquired a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company along with five of its drug applications for generic medicines as part of its push into regulated markets such as the UK and Canada.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.