Biotechnology major Biocon is planning a multi-million dollar acquisition to shore up distribution of its products in Europe and North America and will hive off its research service subsidiary into a separate listed entity by the middle of this year.
"We expect to complete the acquisition within the next few months. It is a multi-million dollar deal and is aimed at scaling up the front-end operations for our products in the developed markets," Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon, told
Hindustan Times
.
Shaw said the company would hive off its contract research subsidiary Syngene as a separate listed entity in 2008. "We believe Syngene has attained critical mass that can be leveraged to deliver a strong growth trajectory. As one of Asia's largest and most profitable contract research companies, Syngene's public float can deliver superior shareholder value," Shaw said.
The company reported a net profit of Rs 292 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, a six-fold increase over the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year on account of the sale of its enzymes unit.