Ranbaxy dismisses reports of Pfizer's bid for stake

Ranbaxy Labs, which last week announced sale of its promoters' 34.8 per cent stake to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo for nearly Rs 10,000 crore, dismissed rumours that Pfizer might bid for 65 per cent stake which is not owned by the promoting family as "very speculative". Leading business newspaper Financial Times quoted Ranbaxy promoter and CEO and Malvinder Mohan Singh as saying that he had not been in talks with the world's largest drugmaker. The daily also said that Singh dismissed rumours that Pfizer might bid for the 65 per cent stake in Ranbaxy not owned by the family as "very speculative". In one of the the largest sell-outs in India's private sector, promoters of Ranbaxy, the country's largest drugmaker, announced selling their entire 34.8 per cent stake in the firm to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo for Rs 10,000 crore. The decision to sell was "emotional," Singh has said. "But you cannot hold a company from future advancement because your shareholding will come down." "If someone else can create more value and do things better, you should be open to exploring those options," Singh is quoted as saying in the daily. Explaining why he sold his family's crown jewel, Singh has said, "It takes Ranbaxy to a whole different level and there is huge merit in bringing big pharma and generics together. Joining forces with Daiichi strengthens Ranbaxy's fledging and expensive efforts to develop original drugs rather than just copying existing ones."