Kotak Alt invests ₹1,445 cr to fund Matrix Pharma’s buyout of Viatris’ API biz

The acquisition is expected to make Matrix Pharma the second largest Indian player in antiretroviral API space. It will also gain access to Viatris’ network of 185 scientists and a repository of more than 600 drug master files (DMF).

First Published11 Jun 2024

Kotak Alt’s capital infusion will enable Matrix to consolidate its leadership in the API business. (Photo: Bloomberg)

Kotak Alternative Asset Managers, Kotak Mahindra Group’s alternative assets management entity, has invested ₹1,445 crore to partly finance the acquisition of US-based pharmaceutical major Viatris’ active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business by Matrix Pharma Private Ltd.

The deal is being consummated with financing from Kotak Strategic Situations Fund II, the firm said in a statement, more than a year after it announced the first close of a $1.25 billion fund to invest across growth and value companies.

The acquisition is expected to make the Hyderabad-based Matrix Pharma the second largest Indian player in antiretroviral API space. It will also gain access to Viatris’ network of 185 scientists and a repository of more than 600 drug master files (DMF).

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Kotak Alt’s capital infusion will enable Matrix to consolidate its leadership in the API business by focusing on third-party sales and will selectively evaluate inorganic opportunities in the pharma contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) space.

Srini Sriniwasan, managing director of Kotak Alternate Asset Managers, said that the deal underscores Kotak Alt’s pharma industry capabilities and its ability to create a platform to build a robust API business which we can support with organic and inorganic growth.

Viatris Inc was a result of a merger between Mylan NV and Pfizer’s Upjohn unit in 2020. The pharmaceutical major sold two of its businesses in India for $1.2 billion in October as part of a global exercise to exit non-core businesses.

It sold the Indian API business to IQuest Enterprises, a local pharma firm owned by Matrix Laboratories founder Nimmagadda Prasad and its women's healthcare business to Insud Pharma of Spain.

Kotak Mahindra Group set up Kotak Alt in 2005 in order to sharpen focus on its private equity investments it has been involved in since 1997. It has made capital commitments amounting to $8.8 billion.