Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo will sell part or all of its holding in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries which it received following the merger of Ranbaxy into the Indian pharma major.

Daiichi Sankyo said it would not be a major shareholder in Sun Pharma although its existing business partnership with the Indian firm would remain. “The board of directors of Daiichi Sankyo Company approved a resolution on April 20, to sell entire or part of its holding of Sun Pharmaceutical shares,” the Japanese firm said in a statement.

After the sale, Daiichi Sankyo will not be a major shareholder of Sun Pharma, it added. Last month, Sun Pharma had announced completion of merger of Ranbaxy with itself, almost a year after announcing the $4-billion deal.

As part of the deal, Ranbaxy shareholders were to receive 0.8 Sun Pharma shares for every Ranbaxy share they held.

Daiichi Sankyo, which had acquired majority stake in Ranbaxy in 2008 for around ₹22,000 crore, held 63.4 per cent in the Gurgaon-based firm at the time of its merger with Sun. As of April 16, 2015, Daiichi owned 21.49 crore shares of Sun Pharma, the Japanese drug maker added.

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