Nicholas Piramal announces acquisition of balance 51% equity stake in Boots Piramal Healthcare

Nicholas Piramal India Ltd has announced on September 29, 2006 the acquisition of balance 51% equity stake held by The Boots Company PLC, a subsidiary of Alliance Boots plc, in the Joint Venture Company, Boots Piramal Healthcare Pvt Ltd.

Boots Piramal Healthcare Pvt Ltd is a 49:51 Joint Venture Company between the Company and Alliance Boots. The Company is a focused marketing company, which markets the OTC brands of Alliance Boots and Nicholas Piramal in the Indian market.

Following the acquisition of OTC Healthcare business of Alliance Boots by Reckitt Benckiser Plc., UK globally, Alliance Boots has decided to exit the Joint Venture in lndia. The company will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nicholas Piramal and the name of the company will be changed to remove the words "Boots" from its name.

The commercialization of the former Boots OTC brands in India will now be taken over by Reckitt Beckiser (India) Ltd, the Indian Subsidiary of Reckitt Benckiser Plc., UK. Further as a part of this arrangement, Alliance Boots/Reckitt Benckiser have paid Nicholas Piramal a one-time sum of Rs 178 million.

The Company will continue to actively market and distribute its own OTC brands - Saridon, Polycrol and Lacto Calamine which are large and growing brands and also own the field force/marketing team. The OTC business being central to the Company's strategy to build dominance in the Indian market, the Company will continue to invest heavily and grow its OTC brands. The Company also plans to launch OTC brands in new therapy areas, as well as transition some of its Rx brands to OTC through leveraging its sales and marketing team.

Source : Equity Bulls

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