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Shareholders of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries have approved a merger agreement with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, bringing to a close, an over 10-year-long publicly fought feud between the companies.
The merger agreement received an affirmative vote from Taro shareholders (including a vote of the majority of shares held by Taro shareholders unaffiliated with Sun Pharma) at an Extraordinary General Meeting and an Ordinary Class Meeting on May 22, 2024, the two companies said on Thursday.
A glimmer of this had come through this January when the two companies had announced “a definitive merger agreement” in which Mumbai-based Sun Pharma had agreed to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of Israel’s Taro for $43 per share in cash, without interest. Sun held 78.48 percent in Taro, and was to pay $347.73 million (approximately ₹2,891.76 crore) for 8,086,818 outstanding Taro shares, it had then said.
Delisting from NYSE
Once the merger is completed, currently expected in about 35 days (subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions), Taro will become a privately held company wholly-owned by Sun Pharma and soon after its shares will be de-listed from the NYSE, the note said.
Sun had made a $454-million offer for Taro (2007) — a deal it sealed after the two companies fought a long cross-country battle. In 2013, it abandoned efforts to efforts to mop up Taro’s outstanding shares. But this was revived in May 2023, when it offered $38 per share. This too faced opposition from Taro’s largest minority shareholder. The deal was sweetened in December 2023, when Sun Pharma upped its offer to $43 per share.
Dilip Shanghvi, Sun Pharma ‘s Managing Director, said the combined entity would enable them to better serve the needs of patients, healthcare professionals and customers. Alluding to a 15-year relationship with Sun Pharma, Uday Baldota, Taro’s Chief Executive Officer, said the merger would help them compete effectively in different markets. Taro recently announced its financial performance, clocking a full year FY24 sales at $629 million, up 9.8 percent, and reported net profit of $53.9 million compared to $25.4 million in FY23.
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