Dr Reddy's to buy German pharma major

If the deal comes through with Betapharm it would be the biggest overseas acquisition by an Indian drugs group.

Indian pharmaceuticals group, Dr Reddy's, is most likely to acquire one of Germany's leading generic drug manufacturers, after making a €470m (£320m) buyout offer to owner 3i, the UK venture capitalists.

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If the deal comes through with Betapharm it would be the biggest overseas acquisition by an Indian drugs group. Reportedly, Dr Reddy's, one of four Indian companies initially in the running for Betapharm, had outbid France's Sanofi-Aventis and Israel's Teva.

Betapharm, founded in Augsburg, Bavaria, in 1993, was acquired by 3i in a €300m management buyout in March 2004.

The recent shake-up in the European pharmaceutical sector includes GlaxoSmithKline's efforts to buy Serono, the Swiss-based biotechnology group. However, Glaxo refused to comment on reports that it is the frontrunner to acquire Serono after submitting a price closer to $11billion. Other contenders include Novartis and Pfizer.