Debt-saddled drug maker Wockhardt expects to conclude its recent deal to sell its nutrition business to food-major Danone for about Rs 1,600 crore.

The company expects to get legal permission and seal the deal by the end of this financial year, the Wockhardt Chairman, Dr Habil Khorakiwala, said.

Bond issue

This comes even as the company talks to bond holders to settle its long-pending legal disputes over Wockhardt's $110-million FCCB (foreign currency convertible bonds), he added. Wockhardt's debt stands at Rs 3,200 crore, on June 2011.

The company is locked in a legal battle with trustees of the bond holders. At present about $74 million has to be repaid at a premium of 29 per cent, he said. Following the litigation, Wockhardt had told the Bombay High Court that they would be informed if the company further divested any business.

Outlining why he expected Court approvals, he said that Wockhardt's liability was Rs 300 crore, but the company employed about 7,000 people.

Wockhardt's promoter-family, in the meanwhile, has filed a defamation suit for Rs 939 crore against the trustees of the bond holders in Gujarat.

Posts Rs 193-cr profit

Wockhardt has clocked sales of Rs 1,053 crore for the three months ended June 30, 2011, as compared with Rs 921 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. It also clocked a net profit of Rs 193 crore in the quarter under review, as against a loss of Rs 116 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Wockhardt shares closed down over 6 percent, at Rs 420 on the BSE, on Tuesday.

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