(Reuters) – U.S.-based private equity fund Blackstone will submit a bid next week to acquire a 33.47% stake in Indian drugmaker Cipla, the Economic Times reported on Friday, citing people in the know.
The stake sale will formally start the exit of the Hamied family who had founded Cipla in 1935, the report added.
Cipla and Blackstone did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The move will also trigger an open offer for an additional 26% of Cipla, upon full subscription of which Blackstone would end up owning as much as 59.4% of Cipla’s stake, according to the report.
Last Month, Moneycontrol had reported that top shareholders of the pharma major, which includes Blackstone are in talks to sell a part of their stake to private equity players.
Shares of the company have risen over 14% since the Moneycontrol report, and hit record high on Friday.
(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Rashmi Aich)
