Khaitan, Desai & Diwanji on Torrent Pharma’s $556m ‘complicated’ buy of Unichem Labs domestic biz

Torrent Pharma, the flagship company of the Torrent Group, have announced their acquisition of the domestic formulations business of Unichem Laboratories, one of India’s oldest and largest pharma companies, for about Rs 3,600 crores (around $556m), through a business transfer agreement, as reported by The Economic Times and Business Standard.

Khaitan & Co acted as the legal counsel to Torrent Pharma and was led by partner Bhavik Narsana, along with the core transaction team comprising of senior associate Minhaz Lokhandwala and associate Shreya Mukherjee. Counsel Shailendra Bhandare advised on the intellectual property rights related aspects of the deal. The transaction involved several complicated issues, including regulatory issues in the pharmaceutical sector, according to Khaitan’s press release.

Desai & Diwanji advised and acted for Unichem Laboratories and was led by partner Apurva Diwanji. Update 13 November 2017: The team also included senior associate Farida Dholkawala and associate Shireen Langrana and associate Sameer Patel.

Torrent Pharma is ranked amongst the top pharmaceutical companies in India and the deal will give them access to 120 brands of Unichem in India and Nepal besides a manufacturing unit in Sikkim.

2017-11-03

Comments

Complex Baba 10 Nov 2017, 12:59
+2 -0
"Complicated" seems a part of deliberate reportage. Why is the special mention Kian? Are other deals uncomplicated?

This seems more of a deliberate attempt by KCO.
Guest 10 Nov 2017, 16:05
+0 -0
Bhai approval chahiye hoga!!! Toh complicate likh diya. Pharma hai toh dikhana padega na that law bhi padha tha aur approval bhi laya aur shayad non compete mein panga hoga.
BTA 11 Nov 2017, 09:59
+0 -0
Stamp duty kitna diya?

BTA per

Land per

Delivery note - kya collector isko @ 3 percent pe karega ? Notice aaya?
Complicated fiasco 10 Nov 2017, 18:21
+7 -0
Aren't all pharma deals complicated in light of regulatory laws and transitional issues ? one domestic pharma company buying other, half of the regulatory issues will be handled and are known by the acquirer. One doesn't need to hand hold them. Try doing a deal where the buyer is fund or a foreign entity. You will see how complicated it can be.
Guest 11 Nov 2017, 06:29
+1 -0
Go Bhavik!
Gulabi 11 Nov 2017, 11:49
+1 -0
Which firm has a pharma practice? Don't deals like these require pharma regulatory specialists? Wonder if any one from these had that.
pharma lawyer 12 Nov 2017, 08:47
+3 -1
Bhavik Narsana is a pharma expert who has all round knowledge of regulatory aspects involved, coupled with a strong M&A focus.
Disprover 12 Nov 2017, 14:22
+1 -1
Does he have a medical background? Don't you need to have some bio background to be able to do pharma?
Do not disturb 12 Nov 2017, 09:20
+0 -0
I ain't a fan of any law firms per se as in the words of ram jethmalani, they are sweat shops were insomnia is rewarded.

This said, hats off to KCO, at least they name people who have worked on the deal. D and d worked where only one person was involved. This guy must be a rockstar.
Good one 12 Nov 2017, 15:18
+0 -0
:)
So true
kianganz 13 Nov 2017, 06:29
+0 -0
It was Khaitan's press release, so that's why D&D details were more sparse.

D&D has now supplied the other D&D team members now: Senior Associate Farida Dholkawala and Associates Shireen Langrana and Sameer Patel.
Just Asking 15 Nov 2017, 04:52
+1 -0
Wasn't Legally India supposed to reach out to the other law firm before publishing? Or was that Khaitan's responsibility?
Ali-as 16 Jan 2018, 06:26
+0 -0
Kian how come you didn't point out that Haigreve is on the Tpharma board. biased publishing. In all other deal reporting you do always bring out some 'personal' angle! tsk tsk
kianganz 16 Jan 2018, 06:38
+0 -0
Hi, thanks for sharing that interesting tidbit - we would definitely have loved to include that information, but unfortunately I hold my hands up and admit: we did not know about this! :(