Advent International has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a significant stake in Suven Pharmaceuticals from the Jasti family.

Following the completion of this historic acquisition, Advent plans to investigate the merger of its portfolio company, Cohance Lifesciences, with Suven in order to create a leading end-to-end CDMO and merchant API player serving the pharma and specialty chemical markets, according to a regulatory filing.

As part of the agreement, Advent will make an open offer to acquire an additional 26 per cent of the company’s outstanding equity shares from public shareholders.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to media reports, the promoters, led by Venkateswarlu Jasti, own 60 per cent of Suven Pharma, which has a market capitalisation of Rs 6,378 crore. The sale of at least half of their shareholding will increase the deal size to more than Rs 3,000 crore, followed by a 26 per cent open offer, which, if successful, will result in the eventual buyer spending an additional Rs 1,600-1,700 crore.

Venkateswarlu Jasti, Managing Director of Suven Pharmaceuticals, in a statement said,“Advent is the ideal partner for us, with deep expertise in healthcare, and a global network of professionals and experts. Their experience and resources will launch the next phase of growth for Suven pharma. This move will benefit Suven platform immensely. The proposed collaboration with Cohance is a win-win for Suven and its public shareholders. It will help us offer a broader set of services and multi sites to our customers.”

Suven Pharma was spun off from its parent company Suven Life Sciences in 2020. It is currently a major player in the Indian pharma CDMO space, having grown by more than 20 per cent over the last four years. It conducts 90 per cent of its business with innovators who accompany the customer from Phase 1 to commercialisation. It has a robust pipeline of Phase 3 and late Phase 2 molecules, with more than 100 active projects.

Advent has been investing in India since 2007, and its Mumbai office was established in 2009. It currently has over $3.2 billion invested/committed across 14 companies with headquarters or operations in India in sectors such as business and financial services, retail, consumer and leisure, healthcare, industrial, and technology. Bharat Serums and Vaccines are two previous healthcare investments in India.

Advent has invested over $10.4 billion in healthcare across 51 companies globally. Kotak Investment Banking and Avendus Capital advised Advent on this transaction, while Barclays Bank Plc served as Suven’s sole financial advisor.

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