Facing a debt problem in 2019, Glenmark considered selling off its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business before opting instead for a spinoff.
Four years later, with the same debt issues, Glenmark is taking another look at selling its stake in the API business, called Glenmark Life Sciences. The Indian pharma company has contacted potential buyers and has hired Kotak Mahindra Capital to oversee the potential sale, sources told news outlet Mint.
Glenmark is looking to sell off a majority stake in the API subsidiary. The company owns 82% of the business. The company was already required to sell a part of Glenmark Life Sciences by August of 2024, according to Mint, to reach a 75% ownership threshold required by Indian regulators.
Glenmark Life Sciences has a market cap of 49.66 billion rupees ($600 million). In its third-quarter report in January of this year, the company reported revenue of 5.41 billion rupees ($66 million), which was a 3.5% increase from the third quarter of 2021.
The debt of the mother ship rose quickly last year, going from 21.5 billion rupees at the start of the year to 26.15 billion rupees at the end. Three months ago, Glenmark sold nine dermatology brands to Eris Lifesciences for 3.40 billion rupees ($41.4 million) to help address the debt load.
Glenmark made similar moves in 2019 when it was in debt. In addition to spinning off its API business, it did the same with a pipeline of drugs, three R&D centers and a production plant.
It also said it would sell off products that didn’t fall into its primary focus areas of dermatology, respiratory and oncology.