New Delhi, June 3 -- Pune-based drugmaker Brinton Pharmaceuticals Ltd is planning a fresh equity round of funding after a hiatus of nearly seven years and has hired an investment banker to formalise the process, at least two people aware of the development told VCCircle.
Brinton Pharmaceuticals, which counts India Alternatives and Tata Capital Healthcare Fund among its existing institutional investors, is planning to raise around $50 million to $60 million (around Rs 478-574 crore) in this upcoming round of funding, the people said, asking not to be named.
The transaction is likely to include both primary and secondary components, they said.
While Tata Capital Healthcare Fund invested around Rs 26 crore in 2017, India Alternatives infused around Rs 56 crore two years later. It was not immediately clear which of these investors would exit their respective investments in this round.
The investment banking arm of Alvarez & Marsal is believed to be working with the company to scout for potential suitors, the persons added.
Email queries sent to Brinton and Alvarez & Marsal remained unanswered till the time of publishing this news article.
Brinton Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2013. The drugmaker is said to have a strong presence in dermatology, paediatric, respiratory and family specialties.
Besides domestic market, the company also supplies its products to over 60 countries across Asia, USA and Europe, and other strategic global markets.
Recently, the company had appointed Sathya Narayanan as chief executive officer for its India Cluster and Japan Asia Pacific Cluster.
Before joining Brinton Pharmaceuticals, Narayanan served as managing director at Galderma India and Emcutix, where he played a key role in expanding the company's regional footprint and strengthening its dermatology portfolio across South Asia.
The broader pharmaceuticals space in India has seen several consolidation moves by the local players as well as 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 has been estimated to be around $11.75 billion.
In May, Everstone Capital, a Singapore-headquartered private equity firm that invests in India and Southeast Asia, had committed $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.
Last 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.