Biocon to list Syngene by selling 15% stake in public offer

Biocon will list its research services business arm Syngene by selling up to 15 per cent stake in a public offer, the company said, after reporting third-quarter earnings.

Biocon had previously said it planned to list Syngene but had not given a timeline. Late on Thursday, it said its board had approved starting the process of listing and hiring merchant bankers to sell 10-15 per cent from Biocon's majority stake in the unit in the public offer.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Biocon reported a net profit of Rs 91 crore, down 13 per cent from the year-ago period, as research and development expenses more than doubled.

The jump in research and development expenses reflected advances made in multiple R&D programmes, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon's chairwoman and managing director, said in the statement.

Separately, the Bengaluru-based biopharma company agreed with Gilead Sciences to licence its chronic hepatitis-C product range, it said in a statement.

(Reuters)