Cadila Healthcare near deal to buy smaller rival Claris, says English daily

Cadila Healthcare Ltd(CADI.NS), among India's top ten drugmakers, is in late-stage talks to buy smaller rival Claris Lifesciences Ltd(CLAI.BO) for about Rs 3400 crore ($534 million), the Economic Times newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources aware of the talks.

Both companies are engaged in last-minute due diligence negotiations, and the deal is expected to be announced next month, the daily reported.

Claris, which has a market capitalisation of about $240.5 million, makes specialty generic drugs including blood products and anti-infectives, as well as the delivery systems for such products, such as vials, ampoules and intravenous bags.

About half of the company's sales come from 70 emerging markets, including Brazil and Russia.

Media reports in February said several global and domestic drugmakers were in a race to buy Claris's injectable products business, but Claris denied having any intention to sell.

A spokeswoman for Cadila and a spokesman for Claris did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Cadila shares were down 0.5 per cent, while those of Claris were up 10 per cent in early trade on Thursday, while the broader Nifty was down 0.03 per cent.

($1 = 63.7100 rupees)

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)