India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board sharply hiked the foreign investment limit allowed for an upcoming initial public offering of shares in Syngene International, the CRO unit of Bangalore-based Biocon, setting the stage for a capital market entry expected in July.
Foreign investment is now allowed up to 44% from 10% in the IPO, which last week saw the Securities and Exchange Board of India approve the sale of 22 million equity shares held by Biocon, India's Livemint newspaper reported.
Biocon currently holds nearly 84% of Syngene, the newspaper said.
Syngene works with clients such as Merck & Co. ($MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), as well as handling in-house work for Biocon.
An initial filing with the Securities and Exchange Board of India earlier this year said the listing could come as early as July. Earlier this year, when Biocon sold a 10% stake in the research unit, Syngene was valued at about $600 million.
- here's the story from Livemint