US firm to buy India RFCL from ICICI Venture for $100mln

ICICI Venture, No.2 Indian lender ICICI Bank's private equity arm, has sold its 85 per cent stake in biotech firm RFCL to US-based Avantor Performance Materials Holdings for what sources said was $100 million.

ICICI Venture, No.2 Indian lender ICICI Bank's private equity arm, has sold its 85 per cent stake in biotech firm RFCL to US-based Avantor Performance Materials Holdings for what sources said was $100 million.

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Avantor in a statement said that it entered into a agreement to buy RFCL from ICICI Venture, but did not disclose the price.

"With this transaction, we have effected a complete exit from our investment in RFCL," ICICI Venture Executive Director Prashant Purker said.

Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed the price to Reuters. The sources said Lazard India was advising Avantor in the transaction, while ICICI Venture was being advised by NM Rothschild & Sons.

Avantor is a unit of New Mountain Capital LLC, the statement said. The Business Standard newspaper reported on Thursday that ICICI Venture was selling its RFCL stake to Avantor for 5 billion Indian rupees ($113 million).

In January, ICICI Venture CEO Vishakha Mulye had said that the fund was planning to exit some of its earlier investments, and in 2009 it has sold off a string of businesses.

In 2009, RFCL sold its animal health business to Pfizer Pharmaceuticals India Private Ltd, the local arm of US-based drugmaker Pfizer Inc.

In June, ICICI Venture sold its stake in Mumbai-based Metropolis Healthcare to US private equity giant Warburg Pincus for $85 million.