The Hindu Business Line : Strides Arcolab, Matrix to merge

The boards of Matrix Laboratories Ltd and Strides Arcolab Ltd, at their respective meetings on Wednesday, have in principle agreed to a merger plan that will take the merged entity into the premier league of Rs 1,000 crore-plus pharmaceutical companies. The combined sales of the two companies for the 12-month period ended March 2005 stood at over Rs 1,000 crore and net profits in excess of Rs 170 crore.

The merged entity would be called Matrix Strides Ltd. On completion of the merger, Matrix Strides would have operations in over 70 countries with manufacturing operations in India, the US and Latin America. Addressing the media here on Wednesday, the Matrix Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr N. Prasad, however, said the proposed merger would be subject to a valuation exercise to be conducted by an independent firm of chartered accountants. The companies would conduct due diligence of each other's business shortly.

Stating that the valuation process would be completed in a month's time or so, Mr Prasad said the boards of the two companies would meet within 6-8 weeks to finalise the terms of the merger scheme.

The merger would be effective April 1, 2005 and subject to shareholders' approval of both companies and other regulatory approvals.

"The merger would provide significant complementary benefits to the combined entity. While Matrix is predominantly into active pharmaceuticals and intermediates, Strides is more focussed on finished dosages. The combined entity would have 20 advanced manufacturing facilities spread globally - six APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients), five intermediates and nine finished dosages facilities. These include four USFDA approved API facilities and two intermediate plants," Mr Prasad said.

Strides Arcolab is a leading finished dosage form company with domain leadership in soft gels, steriles and other dosage forms.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page