Ranbaxy board OKs de-merger of research unit

New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd today said its board has cleared the scheme of de-merger of its New Drug Discovery Research (NDDR) unit into a subsidiary, Ranbaxy Life Science Research Ltd (RLSRL).

The demerger will result in cost savings of about 25 million dollars in the current year for Ranbaxy, a recurring expense, likely to increase significantly in the coming years.

''Ranbaxy believes that this is a significant step in creating an independent pathway for NDDR with dedicated resources and an enhanced focus for long-term growth,'' said a statement.

Ranbaxy has state of the art research infrastructure and a highly skilled scientific talent pool.

These strengths can be more effectively leveraged through an independent vehicle that better aligns assets with priorities to accelerate the company's drug discovery programmes, the statement added.

Company CEO and MD Malvinder Mohan Singh said, ''The de-merger of our NDDR Unit into a separate entity establishes a robust structure to carry out pathbreaking research at the cutting edge of modern medicine.'' Under the Scheme, the shareholders of Ranbaxy will be entitled to receive one equity share of Re one each of RLSRL, without any payment for every four equity shares of Rs five each held in Ranbaxy.

All assets, liabilities, research personnel and pipeline related to the NDDR Unit will be transferred to RLSRL.

Ranbaxy has subscribed to redeemable preference shares of RLSRL aggregating Rs 200 Crores, to meet its business needs.

Post the de-merger, the equity capital of RLSRL will be about Rs 12.6 Crores.

Ranbaxy and RLSRL Employees Welfare Fund Trust will respectively hold 19.8 per cent and 4.9 per cent of the equity share capital of RLSRL. The balance will be held by the shareholders of Ranbaxy.

It is proposed that equity shares of RLSRL will be listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange while GDRs will be listed at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

UNI PBB PDT AS1612