Dr Reddy’s Labs has announced the purchase of Jet Generici Sri, an Italian generics company, for an undisclosed sum. The deal is believed to give Dr Reddy’s a greater generics play in the Euro570-million Italian pharma market. Just a month back, the company also entered into a drug discovery collaboration with 7TM Pharma. Jet Generici, which recorded revenue of Euro 1.5 million, brings to the table frontline capabilities with its 20-strong sales force, over 20 products and a pipeline of registerations in the local market. The deal has been completed through Dr Reddy’s Italian subsidiary Reddy Pharma Italia SpA, engaged in building pipeline registerations.   more »

After aborting its Initial Public Offer in February, Wockhardt Hospitals on Sunday said it is looking at raising funds through private equity. "We are looking at raising funds through private equity. We are going through the process," Wockhardt Hospitals' CEO Vishal Bali said. Wockhardt Hospitals was looking at raising Rs 800 crore through the IPO to repay debt and fund its expansion plans that included setting up 17 new hospitals by 2010. But its IPO received poor response and was withdrawn. Its IPO was the second this calendar year to be withdrawn, the The first one being that of real estate player Emaar MGF.   more »

Huasheng Co. Ltd, a unit of Chinese dyestuff manufacturer Zhejiang Longsheng Group, has acquired 7.46% equity stake in Kiri Dyes and Chemicals Ltd (KDCL), one of country’s leading manufacturer and exporters of dyes and dyes intermediates. Huasheng has purchased 1.1 million shares in Kiri at Rs 115 per share. KDCL has recently closed its initial public offering of 37.5 lakh equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each. Ahmedabad-based, Kiri Dyes, one of the top 10 producers of reactive dyes globally in terms of volume and quality, is an Ahmedabad based company. The company has been in the business of manufacturing Reactive Dyes for past 9 years. The product range of company caters to textiles, leather, paint and printing-ink industries.   more »

The oldest stockbroker in the city of London has become the latest British institution to be acquired by an Indian company, snapped up in a 55 million pounds ($100 million) deal by a Delhi-based brokerage firm. Hichens Harrison, which has been trading for 205 years, was taken over Friday by Religare Enterprises, which is controlled by Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh, owners of the drug company Ranbaxy. The acquisition of Hichens Harrison, considered a bastion of Britishness, is expected to help Religare boost its investment banking operations and extend its geographical reach in emerging markets. Hichens Harrison is said to be the only London stockbroking firm to have survived more than 200 years almost in its original form.   more »