Aurobindo Pharma acquisition news: Drugmaker says ‘no binding agreement’ yet

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. on Wednesday, August 20, clarified that reports of a potential acquisition by the company are premature and should not be relied upon.Without naming the exact media report, the company, in an exchange filing, said at present, no binding agreement or definitive decision has been made by its board of directors in relation to the transaction referred to in the reports. “Accordingly, the said news item is premature and should not be relied upon,” it added.

Aurobindo Pharma said in event of a definitive development requiring disclosure under the SEBI Listing Regulations, it will make the necessary and timely announcements to the stock exchanges.

While Aurobindo Pharma did not mention any specific media report on its acquisition, ET.com on Wednesday reported, citing sources, that the company has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Zentiva, a Prague-based generic drugmaker, for $5 billion – $5.5 billion from Advent International.Aurobindo Pharma reported a mixed first quarter, where its consolidated net profit declined 10.2% to ₹824.2 crore from ₹918.2 crore in the previous year, while revenue increased by 4% from the year-ago period.

Aurobindo’s US sales stood at $408 million from $470 million sequentially, mainly due to lower sales of the Revlimid generic.

Shares of Aurobindo Pharma are trading 3.7% lower on Wednesday at ₹1,049.8. The stock is down 8% in the last one month.