Multiples Private has led an investment of Rs 685 crore, along with a few other financial investors, for a 9.3% stake in BDR Pharmaceuticals International, an R&D focused, integrated pharma player. Multiples is the first private equity (PE) investor in BDR Pharma.

The consortium of investors participating along with Multiples includes institutional investors such as the investment arm of Times Group, QRG Invest (Havells Family Office), and high net worth individuals Nishant Agarwal of Avighna Group, and Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE.

The funds will be used by the company to build additional research and development capabilities in current and emerging areas, accelerate investments in manufacturing capacity expansion and enhance the degree of vertical integration. The company will also selectively pursue inorganic opportunities to build scale.

Speaking on this investment, Manish Gaur, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare at Multiples, said “BDR Pharma has a strong reputation for being an innovation partner of choice for leading Indian companies on the back of its excellent product development capabilities. Under the visionary leadership of Dharmesh Bhai, the company has built a strong business in Indian as well as overseas markets.”

He added that “Healthcare, as an industry is highly promising in India and Multiples, brings strong sector expertise with investments in companies across the value chain. Animal health, Formulations and Hospitals are some of the segments where we have backed companies with strong differentiation, and high-quality entrepreneurs and management teams. We will continue to explore partnering with promising enterprises in the healthcare industry.

BDR Pharma’s Chairman and MD Dharmesh Shah said, “It is our pleasure to partner Multiples, as our first PE investor. Multiples is an active investor in the pharmaceuticals sector and have a strong track record of partnering with visionary entrepreneurs and management teams in helping them in their transformation journeys. We are looking forward to accelerating our growth journey with trusted investors having a deep understanding of the sector, and regulatory environment and who bring first-hand experience in working with innovative, high-growth companies.”

BDR Pharma was established in 2003 by Dharmesh Shah, a career technocrat and a visionary leader. With a high-quality product portfolio across multiple therapy areas, the company has established itself as an innovation partner of choice in attractive therapy areas with a track record of leadership in Oncology and Critical Care and a growing presence in Dermatology, Gynaecology, and other therapy areas. BDR Pharma’s portfolio includes Covid-19 drugs Favipiravir, Molnupiravir and Baricitinib in India.

For Multiples, J Sagar and Associates acted as the Legal Advisors and EY acted as the Financial and Tax Advisors.

For BDR Pharmaceuticals, SAM for Legal, Transaction Square for Tax and O3 Capital as Investment bankers led the transaction.