Asia Pacific-focused investment firm PAG, along with consortium partners CX Partners and Samara Capital, has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Hyderabad-based Optimus Group, through the API platform Sekhmet Pharmaventures.
VCCircle exclusively reported about the development in April.
The PAG-led consortium is said to have invested around Rs 2,000 crore (about $260 million) for around 74% stake each in group entities Optimus Drugs Pvt. Ltd, Optimus Pharma and Optimus Lifesciences.
“We are excited to partner with Srini and the team at Optimus as it embarks on a new phase of growth. We look forward to supporting Optimus to continue to invest in its R&D, manufacturing capabilities and intellectual property management, and serve the health needs of people in India and across the globe,” said Nikhil Srivastava, partner and managing director, head of India private equity for PAG.
Founded in 2004, Optimus is a vertically integrated manufacturer of pharmaceutical products including advanced intermediates, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished drugs. It currently exports more than 100 products to 40 countries.
“Sekhmet’s investment significantly boosts our product development capabilities, and further enables us to achieve our ambition of becoming a leading global API producer. We look forward to working with PAG consortium to build our portfolio to deliver high quality, affordable health products, and offer our customers industry-leading products across a wide spectrum of medical needs,” said Dr D Srinivas Reddy, founder of Optimus.
As per the terms, Sekhmet Pharmaventures, the PAG-led consortium’s platform for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), was to buy Unichem’s entire stake in Optimus Drugs for Rs 270.99 crore, Unichem, PAG had announced in May.
This is the second acquisition by Sekhmet, which aims to develop a hub for production of bulk drug ingredients. In 2020, Sekhmet took control of Chennai-based API manufacturer Anjan Drugs Pvt. Ltd.
With this transaction, PAG has invested more than $700 million in private equity in India over the last two years across multiple sectors.
With a focus on APAC region with three core strategies - credit & markets, private equity and real assets, PAG manages capital on behalf of nearly 300 institutional fund investors.
As of 30 June 2022, PAG had approximately 300 investment professionals in 12 key offices, and more than $50 billion in assets under management.
Meanwhile, CX Partners is a homegrown private equity fund, with its core strategy to acquire controlling or significant minority stakes in mid-sized companies in sectors including IT, pharma, financial services, and consumer-focused segments.
Samara Capital is also a mid-market private equity firm that invests in emerging Indian companies (EICs) and businesses that have the potential for rapid growth and transformation in consumer/retail; healthcare/pharma; financials & business services/technology sectors.
