Follow us

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised the book running lead managers on the global offering and listing of Gland Pharma Limited on India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Gland Pharma’s US$872 million offering is the biggest IPO in India’s pharmaceutical sector, as well as the first IPO of an Indian company with a Chinese promoter.

Founded in 1978, Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma is one of the fastest-growing generic injectables focused companies, operating in more than 60 countries. China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharma acquired a 74% stake in Gland Pharma in 2017, the largest acquisition of an Indian company by a Chinese firm, and retains a controlling stake in Gland Pharma after the offering.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citigroup Global Markets India, Haitong Securities India and Nomura India were the book running lead managers on the offering.

"I congratulate the company and the book running lead managers on this very successful IPO,” said Singapore partner Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan. “This offering reaffirms that Indian companies with global business and growth prospects continue to capture the attention of international investors, and once again underlines the attractiveness of pharma companies with advanced regulatory and R&D capabilities.”

“This transaction marks another key India IPO mandate for us continuing our strong record in the India ECM space,” said Siddhartha. “In 2020 we have advised on equity offerings by leading Indian companies including Avenue Supermarts, SBI Cards & Payment Services and Happiest Mind Technologies.”

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Chinese conglomerate Fosun on a number of global fundraisings and M&As in the past two decades.

“We are pleased to have advised on another milestone transaction involving Fosun,” said Gavin Guo, International Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills Kewei, “Chinese companies and investors have recently prioritised investment in healthcare and pharma - our track record in pharma worldwide, coupled with our ability through Kewei to advise seamlessly on China law aspects, puts us in a very strong position to capture more of this work.”

“Asia’s healthcare sector is now a major focus for global investors and acquirers,” said Healthcare and Pharma co-head Alan Montgomery.  “It takes longer for pharma R&D to produce market-ready treatments, but Asia’s companies are now reaching that stage after many years of investment. The market’s strong response to Gland Pharma reflects long-anticipated expectations of this float’s success.”

Siddhartha led the team advising the book running lead managers, assisted by Hong Kong senior US associate Jin Kong (registered foreign lawyer), London consultant Elizabeth Bramon, Kuala Lumpur associate Amanda Tay and Melbourne solicitor JX Zheng. Herbert Smith Freehills Kewei joint operation partner Stanley Xie also provided assistance on the offering. Gavin Guo led the client relationship management with Fosun during the offering.

全球领先的律师事务所史密夫斐尔作为账簿牵头经办人的境外律师,为Gland Pharma Limited全球发行以及在孟买证券交易所和印度国家证券交易所上市提供法律服务。

Gland Pharma此次IPO融资8.72亿美元,是印度医药行业规模最大的IPO,也是首个由中国公司控股的印度公司的IPO。

Gland Pharma成立于1978年,总部位于印度海得拉巴,是一家发展迅速的仿制药注射剂企业,业务遍及60多个国家和地区。2017年,复星医药收购了Gland Pharma 74%股权,成为中国公司对印度公司最大的一笔收购。此次IPO后,复星医药仍为 Gland Pharma控股股东。

Kotak Mahindra Capital、花旗集团、海通证券和野村控股是此次发行的账簿牵头经办人。

史密夫斐尔新加坡办公室合伙人Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan表示:“衷心祝贺Gland Pharma和账簿牵头经办人在此次IPO中取得成功。这一成功再次表明,拥有全球业务布局和良好增长前景的印度公司继续受到国际投资者的关注,并再度彰显出那些具备先进管理能力和雄厚研发实力的医药公司所具有的吸引力。“

Siddhartha表示:“这是史密夫斐尔在印度市场服务的又一笔重大IPO上市,延续了我们在印度股权资本市场保持的领先记录。2020年,我们为Avenue Supermarts、SBI Cards & Payment Services以及Happiest Mind Technologies等一系列领先的印度公司上市提供了法律服务。”

史密夫斐尔在过去二十年间曾为复星集团多笔全球融资和并购交易提供法律服务。

科伟史密夫斐尔联营办公室资深国际顾问郭武汉律师表示:“我们很荣幸能够为复星集团参与的又一笔里程碑式的交易提供法律服务。中国企业和投资者正将目光集中于医疗服务和制药领域。史密夫斐尔在全球制药领域保持的良好业绩,以及科伟在中国法律方面提供无缝链接式服务的能力,令我们处于领先优势,可以为客户提供更多相关方面的服务。”

史密夫斐尔医疗制药行业联席主管合伙人Alan Montgomery表示:“亚洲医疗保健行业现已成为全球投资者和收购者关注的焦点。制药研发往往需要较长时间才能生产出推向市场的治疗药物,经过多年投资的积累,亚洲公司现在已经进入了这个阶段。市场对Gland Pharma上市的热烈反响说明投资者对此次上市期待已久。”

合伙人Siddhartha率领律师团队为此次上市的账簿牵头经办人提供法律服务。主要团队成员包括香港办公室孔瑾(Senior US Associate)和伦敦办公室Elizabeth Bramon (Consultant),吉隆坡办公室Amanda Tay (Associate)和墨尔本办公室JX Zheng (Solicitor)。科伟史密夫斐尔联营办公室合伙人谢守德律师亦为本次上市提供协助。郭武汉律师在上市过程中负责复星方面的客户关系管理。

Key contacts

Gavin Guo photo

Gavin Guo

Partner, Kewei, Shanghai

Gavin Guo
Alan Montgomery photo

Alan Montgomery

Partner, Co-Head Pharmaceuticals, Co-Head of India Practice, London

Alan Montgomery

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Sally Greig

Head of Communications, Asia

Hong Kong

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Vivian Huang

Communications Manager, China

Beijing