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Grapevine: PE firms eye stake in GVK Biosciences; Tatas mull control deal for 1mg

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 06 Nov 2020
Grapevine: PE firms eye stake in GVK Biosciences; Tatas mull control deal for 1mg
Credit: Pixabay

Global private equity funds Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Apax Partners have shown interest to acquire close to a 25% stake in GVK Biosciences at a valuation of up to $800 million (about Rs 5,920 crore), people in the know told The Economic Times.

“We expect the participation of another 4-5 funds including domestic funds for acquiring the minority stake,” one of the persons said.

GVK Biosciences provides research and development services to life sciences and biopharma companies.

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ChrysCapital may sell its 17% stake while the remaining would be primary infusion. ChrysCapital bought a minority stake from Sequoia Capital in 2015 at a valuation of $250 million.

Meanwhile, drawn in by the rapid growth of e-pharmacies, the Tata group is eyeing a majority stake in online pharmacy 1mg, media reports said.

In August, Reliance Retail acquired a 60% stake in Vitalic, which operates e-pharmacy Netmeds, in a deal valued at about Rs 620 crore.

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Reliance’s entry also coincides with online retailer Amazon’s foray into the e-pharmacy sector.

Prior to that, online pharmacies Pharmeasy and Medlife were said to be merging their operations.

“The talks have been ongoing as Tatas look to build their super-app platform. The Tata group’s strategy is to pick up a controlling stake but keep the management to run the operations,” one of the persons said.

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Sequoia Capital-backed 1mg has been in talks to raise around $100 million, but the funding may not come through, said another person.

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