INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - OCTOBER 21st - NOVEMBER 15th
- 2007
SEQUOIA PICKS UP 20% IN SAI FOR $12.5M
Private Equity (PE) firm Sequoia Capital has picked up around 20% stake in Hyderabad-based Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) SAI Advantium for $12.5 million. The PE acquired stake after the exit of one of the promoters of SAI Advantium, according to industry sources. This is Sequoia's first investment in the pharma sector. Officials from Sequoia were, however, not available for comment.
SAI Advantium is looking at another round of fresh equity infusion in the first half of 2008 to fund its expansion plans. "We are working on a $20million expansion plan," SAI Advantium promoter and CEO K Ranga Raju said.
Founded in 1999, the company offers drug development support services in medicinal chemistry, process chemistry, analytical chemistry and manufacturing. It is currently servicing customers in the US and EU, but the chunk of its clients are in the US. Around 400 scientists are on its rolls.
It has one facility at Pune, one at Bidar (Karnataka) and three at Hyderabad. The company plans to set up two facilities at Vizag for its custom pharmaceutical services (CPS) business. It has already acquired around 10 acres at Vizag Pharma city for one of these facilties and is in the process of acquiring land at the Vizag Pharma SEZ for the other. The Pharma City facility is expected to be ready by March, 2010, he said.
SAI Advantium also plans to expand the activities of its R&D centre at Pune for preformulation development, formulation development and pre-clinical trials. The expansion of the Pune centre is likely to be completed in the next six to eight months. In Hyderabad, the company is setting up a technology centre spanning around 70,000 square feet.
According to reports, the company clocked a turnover of around $10 million in 2006 and grew by 80-90% in March 2007. Its turnover is estimated to be around $18-19 million.
|
