Three months after selling its Australia formulations business to Watson Pharmaceuticals ($WPI), Bangalore-based Strides Arcolab is in the hunt for strategic acquisitions. Agila Specialities, a wholly owned subsidiary of Strides, has paid 124 crore Rs (about $24 million) to buy a sterile formulations manufacturing facility in Hosur from Star Drugs and Research Labs. Strides CEO Arun Kumar says buying the plant will save the company the four or 5 years it would have taken to build a new facility and get it approved, reports The Economic Times. "This timely acquisition brings into our fold, an asset which is of immediate importance given the demand for sterile injectables worldwide," Kumar said.The plant makes nearly 100 million vials a year. Strides expects to be shipping product to the U.S. in the third quarter. When it sold the business to Watson in January, Kumar said the company would use the money to reduce debt and to make acquisitions that would build its focus in injectables. Story | More