Piramal Enterprises Acquires Digeplex and Associated Brands for its Consumer Products Business

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, India, November 30, 2017: Piramal Enterprises’ Consumer Products Division announces the acquisition of Digeplex and associated brands from Shreya Lifesciences. This acquisition strengthens Piramal’s position in the Gastro-Intestinal (GI) segment and is complementary to its existing brands - Polycrol and Naturolax, in the GI segment. These brands hold rich legacy amongst consumers across India.

Nandini Piramal, Executive Director, Piramal Enterprises said, “Our aim is to be a significant player in every business under the Healthcare vertical of Piramal Enterprises Limited. Acquisition is one of the important routes to help us achieve our goal and in the last 2 years, we have completed three acquisitions in the Consumer Products business, itself. We believe Digeplex and its associated brands, are a strategic fit for our product portfolio that will help us move closer towards our stated objective. The combination of organically growing our existing core brands and strategically acquiring accretive brands, has helped us create a powerful portfolio of OTC brands in India.”

Kedar Rajadnye, COO - Consumer Products Division, Piramal Enterprises said, “Today’s consumers lead a fast and hectic lifestyle, which coupled with stress and infrequent food habits, tends to take a toll on their digestive wellbeing. As per AIOCD October 2017 data, the Gastro Intestinal market in India, which addresses the constipation, diarrhoea and appetite stimulant categories, is a ~INR 13,000 Crore market and has grown at ~11% y-o-y. We already have a well-established antacid brand – Polycrol and Naturolax, an isabgol husk based brand which helps in treating constipation. With these additions, our basket of offerings in the Gastro Intestinal market will become larger.

We expect these brands to leverage the strong sales and distribution capability that we have built over the years and help us improve our profit margins. This brand has a huge potential to become a power brand in its category.”

About Piramal Enterprises Limited

Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) is an Indian multi-national business conglomerate, with a presence in Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Insights & Analytics. PEL’s consolidated revenues were over US$ 1.3 billion in FY2017. In Financial Services, PEL provides comprehensive financing solutions to real estate companies. The division’s Corporate Finance Group (CFG) also provides senior and mezzanine growth capital to various businesses across varied sectors. The division has also launched Distressed Asset Investing platform that will invest in equity and/or debt in assets across sectors (other than real estate) to drive restructuring with a view of a turnaround of the business. The total funds under management under all these businesses are ~US$ 6.2 billion. The Company has recently launched a retail housing finance vertical. The Company also has strategic alliances with top global funds such as APG Asset Management, Bain Capital Credit, CPPIB Credit Investment Inc. and Ivanhoé Cambridge (CDPQ). PEL also has made long term equity investments of ~US$ 700 million in Shriram Group, an Indian player in the Retail and Commercial Financing space.

In Pharma, through end-to-end manufacturing capabilities across 13 global facilities, PEL provides services ranging from drug discovery, clinical development, commercial manufacturing of APIs as well as formulations. With presence in over 100 countries, PEL markets a strong portfolio of products, including a differentiated branded hospital generic portfolio comprising of inhalation anaesthesia, injectable anaesthesia as well as pain management and intrathecal spasticity products.  PEL’s Consumer Products Business operates in the OTC market in India.