This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Monday, July 1, 2013
Last week, IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL) partnered with Japanese road construction firm East Nippon Expressway Co to tap public private partnership (PPP) projects in India.
Tata Sons’ wholly owned subsidiary Tata Realty & Infrastructure Ltd (TRIL) is seeking foreign collaborations to bid for urban transportation projects, a space it believes will only get bigger in the coming years.
For airports development, TRIL is understood to have got on board a foreign partner to bid for upcoming projects.
A host of other infrastructure companies too are seeking foreign allies to grab a bigger share of Indian infrastructure growth story.
Overall infrastructure spend under the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) is estimated to be around $1 trillion (Rs 60 lakh crore). Half of the figure is expected to be invested by the private sector.
“In terms of the overall capacity addition, it would be the largest infrastructure build-up in the country and more than what has been built in the last two Five Year Plans put together,” said Mukund Sapre, executive director, ITNL.
He said the power sector will see the largest investment at Rs 15 lakh crore, followed by road and bridges (Rs 9.5 lakh crore), telecom (Rs 8.5 lakh crore), railways (Rs 4.5 lakh crore), irrigation (Rs 4.5 lakh crore) while ports, airports, water and sanitation, logistics, etc will make up the rest.
But why foreign collaborations?
Sanjay G Ubale, MD & CEO, TRIL, said “Foreign collaborations have become important as infrastructure projects are now getting bigger and complex requiring a lot of technology in terms of construction in addition to sound project management skills.”
He said such tie-ups help in pre-qualifications in the government tenders.
“There are various terms and conditions required to be fulfilled to pre-qualify when the government puts out a tender. Some of these criteria can only be met by a foreign construction company,” Ubale said.
TRIL had partnered with French company Vinci for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link – a Rs 9,360 crore, 22 km freeway grade road bridge connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The contract is likely to be awarded by August.
Also, the infrastructure projects tend to be very large, calling for significant investments, which a single company may not be able to garner.
Most collaborations happening currently are for attracting foreign capital.
“Since in any collaboration the partner has to bring in capital to the extent of his participation, financial health is an important criteria,” said Sapre.
Sensing opportunity, many financial institutions too have formed joint ventures to build up infrastructure portfolios such as infrastructure fund by Macquarie-SBI.
Similarly, many other non-banking financial companies have set up infrastructure development funds to provide debt funding.
Of the total infra spend Rs 40,000 crore is estimated to be expended on the EPC works for roads, ports, solar power, thermal power, railways, etc. giving ample opportunities for private investment.
“The total investment envisaged during 2012-2017 is estimated to be $800 billion. The Indian infrastructure companies should see their order book growth by 20% annually over the next five years,” Sandeep Upadhyay, senior vice-president and head-infrastructure solutions group, Centrum Capital, said.
While all the infrastructure sectors provide excellent opportunities for investments major attractions would be in categories such as roads, railways, ports, power and airports, he said.
Monday, 1 July 2013
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Private FM operators favour higher FDI cap
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Saturday, June 29, 2013.
The Association of Radio Operators for India (Aroi) is understood to be in favour of an increase in the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 49% from the current 26%, as proposed by the panel led by Arvind Mayaram, secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.
The Aroi governing body, in a meeting on Friday deliberated on the panel’s suggestions ahead of the inter-ministerial group’s meeting next week.
An industry source said the deliberations were not yet over and the matter has been opened to voting. “There is overwhelming support for increased FDI. The ministers will be consulting with leading industry layers on Saturday, post which, the matter will get discussed by the inter-ministerial group early next week,” said the source.
Officials of My FM, Radio City and BIG FM could not be reached for comments.
“It is a bit early to make a concrete statement considering the matter is still being discussed. Aroi has not gone official with its views. We’ll have to study Aroi’s stance and take a call on our approach accordingly,” said a top official of one of the big five private radio companies.
In May, the Union Cabinet had approved the EGoM’s decision to auction 839 channels in 294 cities as part of the third phase of private FM radio. The new FM radio frequencies will be opened for cities with a population above one lakh.
Currently, 86 cities are covered by FM radio services.
The Association of Radio Operators for India (Aroi) is understood to be in favour of an increase in the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 49% from the current 26%, as proposed by the panel led by Arvind Mayaram, secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.
The Aroi governing body, in a meeting on Friday deliberated on the panel’s suggestions ahead of the inter-ministerial group’s meeting next week.
An industry source said the deliberations were not yet over and the matter has been opened to voting. “There is overwhelming support for increased FDI. The ministers will be consulting with leading industry layers on Saturday, post which, the matter will get discussed by the inter-ministerial group early next week,” said the source.
Officials of My FM, Radio City and BIG FM could not be reached for comments.
“It is a bit early to make a concrete statement considering the matter is still being discussed. Aroi has not gone official with its views. We’ll have to study Aroi’s stance and take a call on our approach accordingly,” said a top official of one of the big five private radio companies.
In May, the Union Cabinet had approved the EGoM’s decision to auction 839 channels in 294 cities as part of the third phase of private FM radio. The new FM radio frequencies will be opened for cities with a population above one lakh.
Currently, 86 cities are covered by FM radio services.
Unlisted Tata infra firms aim for 4x orders
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Thursday, June 27, 2013.
Tata Housing, Tata Projects and Tata Realty & Infrastructure, the Tata Group’s unlisted infrastructure entities, are on course for a four-fold increase in order book over the next five years.
The current order book (fiscal 2014) stands at Rs 15,000-20,000 crore and the goal is to ratchet this beyond Rs 70,000 crore in the next five years.
The Tata Group, operating in the Indian infrastructure space since 1910, has eight companies across sectors like energy, telecom, realty, transportation, infrastructure, project execution, project consultancy.
They contributed $12.5 billion, or 12.4%, to the group’s overall revenues in 2011-12.
Siddhartha Roy, economic advisor to the group, said the ratio of private and public sector in the country’s infrastructure spend used to be 25:75 in the 10th Five Year Plan, which increased to 36:64 in the 11th and is almost 50:50 in the 12th.
“What this basically means is that a very large part of the investment or the funding for this investment has to come from the private sector. The group has already made significant investments in the area of power, telecom, housing, infrastructure (roads, airports, urban transportation) etc and will be aggressively building the pipeline across infrastructure projects in the coming years,” said Roy.
Of the envisaged Rs 70,000 crore orderbook, the share of Tata Projects Ltd will be about Rs 25,000 crore, while it will be Rs 24,000 crore and Rs 22,700 crore from Tata Housing Development Company and Tata Realty & Infrastructure, respectively.
Sanjay G Ubale, managing director and CEO, Tata Realty, said investments will be in areas like road projects (Rs 7,500 crore), airport (Rs 5,000 crore), urban transportation (Rs 3,000 crore), industrial park (Rs 3,000 crore), real estate (Rs 4,000 crore) and hospitality (Rs 200 crore).
“We are looking at three airport projects of which work on the Jamshedpur site has already started. We will also bid for the Goa and Navi Mumbai airport projects as and when they are invited. On the roads front, there are 10 projects for which bidding is likely to happen and we should get at least two projects if not more,” Ubale said.
The commercial real estate space currently offers huge potential for inorganic growth and the company should be concluding a few deals in the coming few quarters in addition to taking the organic approach to building up portfolio, he said.
As for Tata Housing, the company has been growing at almost 100% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last 4-5 years and currently has 26 signed projects at various stages of planning and execution.
With approximately 704 acres of landbank, the company currently has 55 million sq ft under development across 10 states across including eight major cities and 11 locations.
Brotin Banerjee, managing director and CEO, Tata Housing, said growth this year might be relatively slow mainly because of delayed approvals and general slowdown in the market.
“Having said that we have over 90 million sq ft in the pipeline under various stages of approvals. We are hoping to sign a very big private-public partnership project in Sri Lanka which should happen in the next couple of months.”
Tata Housing, Tata Projects and Tata Realty & Infrastructure, the Tata Group’s unlisted infrastructure entities, are on course for a four-fold increase in order book over the next five years.
The current order book (fiscal 2014) stands at Rs 15,000-20,000 crore and the goal is to ratchet this beyond Rs 70,000 crore in the next five years.
The Tata Group, operating in the Indian infrastructure space since 1910, has eight companies across sectors like energy, telecom, realty, transportation, infrastructure, project execution, project consultancy.
They contributed $12.5 billion, or 12.4%, to the group’s overall revenues in 2011-12.
Siddhartha Roy, economic advisor to the group, said the ratio of private and public sector in the country’s infrastructure spend used to be 25:75 in the 10th Five Year Plan, which increased to 36:64 in the 11th and is almost 50:50 in the 12th.
“What this basically means is that a very large part of the investment or the funding for this investment has to come from the private sector. The group has already made significant investments in the area of power, telecom, housing, infrastructure (roads, airports, urban transportation) etc and will be aggressively building the pipeline across infrastructure projects in the coming years,” said Roy.
Of the envisaged Rs 70,000 crore orderbook, the share of Tata Projects Ltd will be about Rs 25,000 crore, while it will be Rs 24,000 crore and Rs 22,700 crore from Tata Housing Development Company and Tata Realty & Infrastructure, respectively.
Sanjay G Ubale, managing director and CEO, Tata Realty, said investments will be in areas like road projects (Rs 7,500 crore), airport (Rs 5,000 crore), urban transportation (Rs 3,000 crore), industrial park (Rs 3,000 crore), real estate (Rs 4,000 crore) and hospitality (Rs 200 crore).
“We are looking at three airport projects of which work on the Jamshedpur site has already started. We will also bid for the Goa and Navi Mumbai airport projects as and when they are invited. On the roads front, there are 10 projects for which bidding is likely to happen and we should get at least two projects if not more,” Ubale said.
The commercial real estate space currently offers huge potential for inorganic growth and the company should be concluding a few deals in the coming few quarters in addition to taking the organic approach to building up portfolio, he said.
As for Tata Housing, the company has been growing at almost 100% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last 4-5 years and currently has 26 signed projects at various stages of planning and execution.
With approximately 704 acres of landbank, the company currently has 55 million sq ft under development across 10 states across including eight major cities and 11 locations.
Brotin Banerjee, managing director and CEO, Tata Housing, said growth this year might be relatively slow mainly because of delayed approvals and general slowdown in the market.
“Having said that we have over 90 million sq ft in the pipeline under various stages of approvals. We are hoping to sign a very big private-public partnership project in Sri Lanka which should happen in the next couple of months.”
Cable TV user data deadline extended
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended the June 25 deadline for submission of television customer application forms (CAFs) by cable networks to July 10.
Multi-system operators (MSOs), or mega networks that deliver cable and satellite television channels to homes via neighbourhood allies, pleaded that since compiling CAFs is an enormous and complex task, a deadline extension is necessary, Trai said.
The extension was also done to minimise consumer inconvenience. If the new deadline is not complied with, subscribers’ existing connections via set-top boxes (STBs) would be disabled, Trai said.
Ashok Mansukhani, executive director of IndusInd Media and Communications, an MSO, welcomed the deadline extension. “Each MSO has given individual deadline to Trai. I’m sure they will do their best to achieve it.”
Trai said the number of identified subscribers has increased, but there are still a large number of television subscribers whose details are not yet available with cable operators and MSOs.
Industry sources said some 70% of CAFs may have been submitted so far under the new ‘digital addressable cable TV systems’ regime. “Certain operators will have to finally select which MSO to go with,” said Mansukhani.
But Roop Sharma, president of the Cable Operators’ Federation of India (COFI), said, “The extended period is not adequate. There are unresolved issues like the nature of deals between MSOs and broadcasters. MSOs are keen on offering bouquets or packages of channels, while the government is talking of an a la carte rates.”
Most of MSOs have begun offering a la carte pricing. “A la carte may not have caught on yet with consumers in India, but bouquets tend to be cheaper worldwide,” said an MSO official.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended the June 25 deadline for submission of television customer application forms (CAFs) by cable networks to July 10.
Multi-system operators (MSOs), or mega networks that deliver cable and satellite television channels to homes via neighbourhood allies, pleaded that since compiling CAFs is an enormous and complex task, a deadline extension is necessary, Trai said.
The extension was also done to minimise consumer inconvenience. If the new deadline is not complied with, subscribers’ existing connections via set-top boxes (STBs) would be disabled, Trai said.
Ashok Mansukhani, executive director of IndusInd Media and Communications, an MSO, welcomed the deadline extension. “Each MSO has given individual deadline to Trai. I’m sure they will do their best to achieve it.”
Trai said the number of identified subscribers has increased, but there are still a large number of television subscribers whose details are not yet available with cable operators and MSOs.
Industry sources said some 70% of CAFs may have been submitted so far under the new ‘digital addressable cable TV systems’ regime. “Certain operators will have to finally select which MSO to go with,” said Mansukhani.
But Roop Sharma, president of the Cable Operators’ Federation of India (COFI), said, “The extended period is not adequate. There are unresolved issues like the nature of deals between MSOs and broadcasters. MSOs are keen on offering bouquets or packages of channels, while the government is talking of an a la carte rates.”
Most of MSOs have begun offering a la carte pricing. “A la carte may not have caught on yet with consumers in India, but bouquets tend to be cheaper worldwide,” said an MSO official.
Now, Ranbaxy's Mohali unit under FDA cloud
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Ranbaxy Laboratories seemed to be getting into more trouble on Monday after its stock tanked 6.8% to a almost 4-year low following reports that the US drug regulator had issued Form 483 to the pharma company’s drug manufacturing unit at Mohali in Punjab.
Responding to queries on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuance, a Ranbaxy spokesperson said, “We continue to make regulatory submissions from Mohali and as and when we get approvals we will commercialise products from Mohali.”
A Form 483 is issued by the FDA at the conclusion of an inspection to notify the company of objectionable conditions that might be in violation of the US Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related laws. However, it does not prevent a company from making regulatory filings from that unit.
Analysts said the implication of the fresh development on the business was not clear.
“There is no clarity from the Ranbaxy management on Form 483. We don’t know if the US FDA has actually issued anything like that,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage.
“The stock has fallen almost 20% in the last four weeks owing to various negative developments. I think the Ranbaxy management doesn’t want the stock to go into a free-fall by acknowledging the US FDA move,” said another analyst, adding that development may not impact the stock significantly if the situation is not so critical.
“The management will, however, have to clarify the situation and its magnitude to avoid further damage,” the analyst said.
Earlier in April, the US FDA has issued a similar Form 483 to one of Wockhardt’s facilities at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. This led to the FDA issuing an import alert on that plant just last month. The Wockhardt stock had fallen 20% on both occasions and is currently trading at Rs 1,004.55, down 2.54% from Friday’s close of Rs 1,030.70. The stock was trading at Rs 1,229.7 a month ago.
Ranbaxy has been going through a tough phase for sometime. Last week, the EU antitrust regulators fined Ranbaxy to the tune of euros 10.3 million (the company management plans to appeal against the decision).
Ranbaxy Laboratories seemed to be getting into more trouble on Monday after its stock tanked 6.8% to a almost 4-year low following reports that the US drug regulator had issued Form 483 to the pharma company’s drug manufacturing unit at Mohali in Punjab.
Responding to queries on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuance, a Ranbaxy spokesperson said, “We continue to make regulatory submissions from Mohali and as and when we get approvals we will commercialise products from Mohali.”
A Form 483 is issued by the FDA at the conclusion of an inspection to notify the company of objectionable conditions that might be in violation of the US Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related laws. However, it does not prevent a company from making regulatory filings from that unit.
Analysts said the implication of the fresh development on the business was not clear.
“There is no clarity from the Ranbaxy management on Form 483. We don’t know if the US FDA has actually issued anything like that,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage.
“The stock has fallen almost 20% in the last four weeks owing to various negative developments. I think the Ranbaxy management doesn’t want the stock to go into a free-fall by acknowledging the US FDA move,” said another analyst, adding that development may not impact the stock significantly if the situation is not so critical.
“The management will, however, have to clarify the situation and its magnitude to avoid further damage,” the analyst said.
Earlier in April, the US FDA has issued a similar Form 483 to one of Wockhardt’s facilities at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. This led to the FDA issuing an import alert on that plant just last month. The Wockhardt stock had fallen 20% on both occasions and is currently trading at Rs 1,004.55, down 2.54% from Friday’s close of Rs 1,030.70. The stock was trading at Rs 1,229.7 a month ago.
Ranbaxy has been going through a tough phase for sometime. Last week, the EU antitrust regulators fined Ranbaxy to the tune of euros 10.3 million (the company management plans to appeal against the decision).
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Prime Focus World secures Rs 313 cr from Macquarie Capital
Prime Focus World NV (PFW), the creative services division of Prime Focus Ltd (PFL) has raised Rs 313 cr in private equity investment from Macquarie Capital. To be deployed in two phases the first tranche of Rs 224 cr has already been rceived in the first phase signed and Rs 89 cr in a second transactional phase, both of which are designated for strategic growth. This investment now places an enterprise valuation of Rs 1770 cr on PFW.
The capital raised will be used for the build out of the global creative services platform, near-term strategic acquisitions and deleveraging debt in the parent company, Prime Focus Limited, with the combined emphasis of expanding PFW's position as a global leader providing visual effects, animation, and stereo "3D" conversion services to major studios and filmmakers around the world.
Namit Malhotra, founder and chief executive officer-PFW and founder-PFL, said, “In the past five years, our business has gained tremendously through expansion of our product offerings and entrance into new markets. Combined with the backing we have received from our other financial partners AID Partners Capital and Suntrust, the investments will allow Prime Focus World to continue to expand and diversify our creative and technological offerings around the globe.”
Macquarie Capital, the advisory, capital raising and principal investing arm of Macquarie Group, made the investment to PFW and provided advisory services to its parent company, PFL. In addition to the funding from Macquarie, PFW also secured $10 million from China’s AID Partners in March. Coupled with a recent investment of $70 million from Standard Chartered Private Equity in PFL, these investments illustrate strong confidence in the business strategy and growth prospects for the overall group.
Namit added, "After having made an initial investment of $43million in 2008 to build out our global platform, we have transitioned and become a business where today our shareholders are seeing a seven times increase in value, while most companies have found it hard to keep pace with the changing times. The investments validate our global ambition to become a world leader while continuing to create greater value for our shareholders.”
PFW has brought its expertise to many wide release Hollywood films, including most recently Baz Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby and Paramount’s World War Z, and upcoming releases such as Sony Pictures’ White House Down. Previously released films that the company contributed to include Men in Black 3, Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace, Dredd 3D, Total Recall, Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Resident Evil: Retribution, Green Lantern, Immortals, Wrath of the Titans, Mirror Mirror, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Avatar.
The capital raised will be used for the build out of the global creative services platform, near-term strategic acquisitions and deleveraging debt in the parent company, Prime Focus Limited, with the combined emphasis of expanding PFW's position as a global leader providing visual effects, animation, and stereo "3D" conversion services to major studios and filmmakers around the world.
Namit Malhotra, founder and chief executive officer-PFW and founder-PFL, said, “In the past five years, our business has gained tremendously through expansion of our product offerings and entrance into new markets. Combined with the backing we have received from our other financial partners AID Partners Capital and Suntrust, the investments will allow Prime Focus World to continue to expand and diversify our creative and technological offerings around the globe.”
Macquarie Capital, the advisory, capital raising and principal investing arm of Macquarie Group, made the investment to PFW and provided advisory services to its parent company, PFL. In addition to the funding from Macquarie, PFW also secured $10 million from China’s AID Partners in March. Coupled with a recent investment of $70 million from Standard Chartered Private Equity in PFL, these investments illustrate strong confidence in the business strategy and growth prospects for the overall group.
Namit added, "After having made an initial investment of $43million in 2008 to build out our global platform, we have transitioned and become a business where today our shareholders are seeing a seven times increase in value, while most companies have found it hard to keep pace with the changing times. The investments validate our global ambition to become a world leader while continuing to create greater value for our shareholders.”
PFW has brought its expertise to many wide release Hollywood films, including most recently Baz Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby and Paramount’s World War Z, and upcoming releases such as Sony Pictures’ White House Down. Previously released films that the company contributed to include Men in Black 3, Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace, Dredd 3D, Total Recall, Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Resident Evil: Retribution, Green Lantern, Immortals, Wrath of the Titans, Mirror Mirror, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Avatar.
Prime Focus to launch ops in China
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Thursday, June 20, 2013.
Prime Focus (PF), a provider of media and entertainment (M&E) services, is making a foray into China and will set up operations by the third quarter of this fiscal, said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, CEO.
PF’s initial bouquet of services in China would include visual effects and 2D-to-stereo-3D conversion. The company will also explore hybrid cloud technology-enabled asset and workflow management solutions for broadcast industry.
The move to set base in China follows the joint venture (JV) formed by PFs, AID Partners Capital and Zhejiang Jingqi Wenhua Chuanbo in March.
Sankaranarayanan said, “The decision to enter China was a mutual understanding between partners. A key construct of AID Capital’s investment in PF was that PF bring its creative and technology expertise to benefit the M&E market in China.”
A promising 3D market opportunity and the overall M&E industry prospects in China, one of the world’s largest content markets, were key factors that propelled PF into China.
Namit Malhotra, founder of PF, said, “After India, Europe and North America, China was the growth story waiting to happen. The AID Partners relationship has gone beyond investment in a formal market entry vehicle to expand our footprint into one of the most influential markets in the world.”
According to the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China’s 2012 box-office receipts increased 30%, thanks largely to imported films, placing the People’s Republic as the world’s second-largest box office next to the US (surpassing Japan).
It was too early to decide on a greenfield set-up of PF in China as details about the size of infrastructure, office space and employee strength are yet to be determined, said Sankara narayanan.
“As of now, we are opening a marketing and sales office in Beijing. We will offer a complete suite of creative and technology services. Our investment in the JV is $3 million, which will be deployed for future investments,”said Sankaranarayanan.
Market accessibility and client intimacy will be key focus areas versus cost arbitration, he said.
Prime Focus (PF), a provider of media and entertainment (M&E) services, is making a foray into China and will set up operations by the third quarter of this fiscal, said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, CEO.
PF’s initial bouquet of services in China would include visual effects and 2D-to-stereo-3D conversion. The company will also explore hybrid cloud technology-enabled asset and workflow management solutions for broadcast industry.
The move to set base in China follows the joint venture (JV) formed by PFs, AID Partners Capital and Zhejiang Jingqi Wenhua Chuanbo in March.
Sankaranarayanan said, “The decision to enter China was a mutual understanding between partners. A key construct of AID Capital’s investment in PF was that PF bring its creative and technology expertise to benefit the M&E market in China.”
A promising 3D market opportunity and the overall M&E industry prospects in China, one of the world’s largest content markets, were key factors that propelled PF into China.
Namit Malhotra, founder of PF, said, “After India, Europe and North America, China was the growth story waiting to happen. The AID Partners relationship has gone beyond investment in a formal market entry vehicle to expand our footprint into one of the most influential markets in the world.”
According to the Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China’s 2012 box-office receipts increased 30%, thanks largely to imported films, placing the People’s Republic as the world’s second-largest box office next to the US (surpassing Japan).
It was too early to decide on a greenfield set-up of PF in China as details about the size of infrastructure, office space and employee strength are yet to be determined, said Sankara narayanan.
“As of now, we are opening a marketing and sales office in Beijing. We will offer a complete suite of creative and technology services. Our investment in the JV is $3 million, which will be deployed for future investments,”said Sankaranarayanan.
Market accessibility and client intimacy will be key focus areas versus cost arbitration, he said.
Abbott entity sues Reddy's over patented thyroid injection 'Zemplar'
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Thursday, June 20, 2013.
US-based AbbVie Inc, a spun-off entity of of Abbott Laboratories, has dragged Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) to court over its patented thyroid injection Zemplar.
AbbVie has alleged that DRL infringed its patents on six counts.
“DRL committed an act of infringement by filing an ANDA (Abbreviated New Drug Application) with a Paragraph IV Certification that seeks FDA-marketing approval for DRL generic versions of AbbVie’s paricalcitol injection products prior to expiration of the patents-in-suit,” goes the petition filed by AbbVie along with Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.
Zemplar (generic paricalcitol) is a drug used for the prevention and treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (excessive secretion of parathyroid hormone) associated with chronic renal failure.
According to its annual report, AbbVie made $383 million from Zemplar sales in 2012, including $230 million from the US.
As per the petition, DRL filed an ANDA with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) seeking approval to sell a generic copy of Zemplar injectable products in 2 microgram/ml and 5 microgram/ml formulations prior to the expiration of the patents owned by and exclusively licensed to the complainants.
A Dr Reddy’s official called it a routine matter with no additional information to share.
Analysts tracking the developments echoed the sentiment, terming it positive for DRL and cited the infringement case as part of the patent challenge in US generic filing process.
“Typically, a drugmaker files with the USFDA for approval to market a product and if the patent is existing, the company has to challenge it. DRL has just challenged the patent and as per law, AbbVie has responded within 45 days, else it would have been understood that the drug inventor agrees the patent is not valid and is giving it away. Suing DRL is nothing but a routine matter and part of business,” said a pharma analyst with a leading international brokerage.
Now that the complainants have filed a suit, as per US law, a 30-month stay gets levied on the DRL filing. Once the stay period gets over, the parties involved will start litigating over the patent. The matter is likely to take over 3-4 years to get sorted out.
The alleged infringement relates to three patents – patent numbers 799 and 758, which Abbott had transferred to AbbVie and which will expire on April 8, 2018, and patent number 815, which WARF holds the rights to and which will expire on July 13, 2015.
US-based AbbVie Inc, a spun-off entity of of Abbott Laboratories, has dragged Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) to court over its patented thyroid injection Zemplar.
AbbVie has alleged that DRL infringed its patents on six counts.
“DRL committed an act of infringement by filing an ANDA (Abbreviated New Drug Application) with a Paragraph IV Certification that seeks FDA-marketing approval for DRL generic versions of AbbVie’s paricalcitol injection products prior to expiration of the patents-in-suit,” goes the petition filed by AbbVie along with Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.
Zemplar (generic paricalcitol) is a drug used for the prevention and treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (excessive secretion of parathyroid hormone) associated with chronic renal failure.
According to its annual report, AbbVie made $383 million from Zemplar sales in 2012, including $230 million from the US.
As per the petition, DRL filed an ANDA with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) seeking approval to sell a generic copy of Zemplar injectable products in 2 microgram/ml and 5 microgram/ml formulations prior to the expiration of the patents owned by and exclusively licensed to the complainants.
A Dr Reddy’s official called it a routine matter with no additional information to share.
Analysts tracking the developments echoed the sentiment, terming it positive for DRL and cited the infringement case as part of the patent challenge in US generic filing process.
“Typically, a drugmaker files with the USFDA for approval to market a product and if the patent is existing, the company has to challenge it. DRL has just challenged the patent and as per law, AbbVie has responded within 45 days, else it would have been understood that the drug inventor agrees the patent is not valid and is giving it away. Suing DRL is nothing but a routine matter and part of business,” said a pharma analyst with a leading international brokerage.
Now that the complainants have filed a suit, as per US law, a 30-month stay gets levied on the DRL filing. Once the stay period gets over, the parties involved will start litigating over the patent. The matter is likely to take over 3-4 years to get sorted out.
The alleged infringement relates to three patents – patent numbers 799 and 758, which Abbott had transferred to AbbVie and which will expire on April 8, 2018, and patent number 815, which WARF holds the rights to and which will expire on July 13, 2015.
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Rupee skating down, Glenmark, Ranbaxy feel the heat
This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Wednesday June 19, 2013.
The depreciating rupee is set to negatively impact the profitability of pharma companies like Glenmark and Ranbaxy this quarter.
Going by Barclays Capital, the two companies are set to take a hit of 38% and 11%, respectively, in their earnings per share (EPS).
“We expect Glenmark and Ranbaxy to observe net forex losses due to high forex loans and significant amount of outstanding hedges,” Balaji Prasad and Rohit Goel, analysts with Barclays Capital, said in a note.
“We expect Ranbaxy to be impacted the most on a cash EPS basis due to derivative losses on its $962 million of derivatives at the end of the quarter ended March. In addition, Glenmark’s cash EPS is also expected to be affected largely due to interest liabilities on its foreign currency debt,” the duo noted.
EPS serves as an indicator of a company’s profitability and is calculated as net income minus dividend on preferred stock divided by average outstanding shares.
Glenmark officials did not respond to a questionnaire emailed on Monday.
Ranbaxy refrained from sharing company specific information, but said the rupee depreciation would improve the competitiveness of the Indian pharmaceutical industry where exports are concerned. “However, in the immediate future, companies that have relied on dollar financing will need to consider the impact of the depreciation in its financial statements,” said Indrajit Banerjee, president and chief financial officer, Ranbaxy.
In case of a net rupee depreciation of 11% (60/$) in this quarter, the analysts said the pecking order would remain the same. However, the negative impact for Glenmark and Ranbaxy would increase to 17% and 58%, respectively.
Among companies that are expected to see a gain in EPS due to a the rupee fall this quarter are Sun Pharma (5.5%), Cipla (3.3%), Dr Reddy’s (1.9%) and Lupin (1.7%).
“At a broad level, the weakening of the rupee is a sign of the pressures we are facing on the fiscal and trade deficit front; it does weaken the government’s efforts at increasing foreign inflows and could impact overall economic health,” said Ramesh Swaminathan, chief financial officer, Lupin Ltd.
The Barclays analysts noted that Lupin continues to perform with a 59% year on year growth in April on the back of market share gains across key products like Cefdinir and Lamivud, in addition to sustained share in key products like Fenofibrate and Ziprasidone. “Eleven Abbreviated New Drug Application approvals in the last three months reaffirm our confidence on Lupin’s strong future product pipeline.”
Swaminathan added that whilst the rupee weakening in general helps exporters achieve better realisations, the fact remains that this volatility takes most of them by surprise since they would have covered their exposures to some extent only; and that hedge might not ultimately result in gains.
“At Lupin, we have been prudent in achieving a balance between hedge and exposures and have calibrated our approach to ring-fence ourselves from this volatility. Our hedge percentage will pay dividends were this depreciation to continue,” said Swaminathan.
Barclays’ coverage group (comprising Ranbaxy, Glenmark, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Lupin) generated 34.2% of sales from the US region last fiscal and the analysts expect it will continue to be in the same range in the current one. The report said these companies also incur considerable operational expenditure in foreign currency, particularly dollar, and that a falling rupee versus the dollar has a positive impact on the sector, which is a net exporter.
The depreciating rupee is set to negatively impact the profitability of pharma companies like Glenmark and Ranbaxy this quarter.
Going by Barclays Capital, the two companies are set to take a hit of 38% and 11%, respectively, in their earnings per share (EPS).
“We expect Glenmark and Ranbaxy to observe net forex losses due to high forex loans and significant amount of outstanding hedges,” Balaji Prasad and Rohit Goel, analysts with Barclays Capital, said in a note.
“We expect Ranbaxy to be impacted the most on a cash EPS basis due to derivative losses on its $962 million of derivatives at the end of the quarter ended March. In addition, Glenmark’s cash EPS is also expected to be affected largely due to interest liabilities on its foreign currency debt,” the duo noted.
EPS serves as an indicator of a company’s profitability and is calculated as net income minus dividend on preferred stock divided by average outstanding shares.
Glenmark officials did not respond to a questionnaire emailed on Monday.
Ranbaxy refrained from sharing company specific information, but said the rupee depreciation would improve the competitiveness of the Indian pharmaceutical industry where exports are concerned. “However, in the immediate future, companies that have relied on dollar financing will need to consider the impact of the depreciation in its financial statements,” said Indrajit Banerjee, president and chief financial officer, Ranbaxy.
In case of a net rupee depreciation of 11% (60/$) in this quarter, the analysts said the pecking order would remain the same. However, the negative impact for Glenmark and Ranbaxy would increase to 17% and 58%, respectively.
Among companies that are expected to see a gain in EPS due to a the rupee fall this quarter are Sun Pharma (5.5%), Cipla (3.3%), Dr Reddy’s (1.9%) and Lupin (1.7%).
“At a broad level, the weakening of the rupee is a sign of the pressures we are facing on the fiscal and trade deficit front; it does weaken the government’s efforts at increasing foreign inflows and could impact overall economic health,” said Ramesh Swaminathan, chief financial officer, Lupin Ltd.
The Barclays analysts noted that Lupin continues to perform with a 59% year on year growth in April on the back of market share gains across key products like Cefdinir and Lamivud, in addition to sustained share in key products like Fenofibrate and Ziprasidone. “Eleven Abbreviated New Drug Application approvals in the last three months reaffirm our confidence on Lupin’s strong future product pipeline.”
Swaminathan added that whilst the rupee weakening in general helps exporters achieve better realisations, the fact remains that this volatility takes most of them by surprise since they would have covered their exposures to some extent only; and that hedge might not ultimately result in gains.
“At Lupin, we have been prudent in achieving a balance between hedge and exposures and have calibrated our approach to ring-fence ourselves from this volatility. Our hedge percentage will pay dividends were this depreciation to continue,” said Swaminathan.
Barclays’ coverage group (comprising Ranbaxy, Glenmark, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Lupin) generated 34.2% of sales from the US region last fiscal and the analysts expect it will continue to be in the same range in the current one. The report said these companies also incur considerable operational expenditure in foreign currency, particularly dollar, and that a falling rupee versus the dollar has a positive impact on the sector, which is a net exporter.
Giving teeth to modern dental care business
 |
| Vikram Vora |
An edited version of this story first appeared in DNA Money on Tuesday June 18, 2013.
A production engineer armed with a masters in management studies (MMS) in marketing from Mumbai University, Vikram Vora slogged it out for over three (2005-2009) in his family business selling dental materials like any other management graduate. He would wait for hours at the dental clinics for his turn to make a sales pitch and in the process identified a huge gap -- lack of transparency between patients and doctors -- that left a lot of patients dissatisfied with the treatments rendered.
Vora also realised that the awareness level about dental treatments among patients was very low. Adding to their confusion (before committing for a particular treatment) was the fact that doctors would very rarely educate them about various aspects related to the treatment. His analysis of the situation brought out the fact that in the entire process, the patient would not get to know what was the problem, why it happened, what are the optional treatments, what is the best and least expensive procedure, what is the right (affordable) option to go for, how much time will it take to heal etc.
"I believed if somebody could create a service and bridge this gap, it would be a great success. And that is how the entire idea of Mydentist evolved and achieved the current status in the market today," said 34 year old Vora who co-founded Total Dental Care Pvt Ltd (TDC) with his brother Parth. With 45 dental clinics in Mumbai and Pune, TDC is India's largest multi-speciality dental clinic chain.
What sets Mydentist clinics apart from other standalone dental centres is the fact that it offers a standardised and published rate card for all its services - something that was not standard practice in India untill recently. Dentists are employed on monthly salaries (Rs 16,000 for entry level), instead of the usual profit-sharing model, and work in shifts of four hours each.
"We started the trend of offering quotations for every treatment being offered. The approach initially received negative feelers from the industry but that's not the situation now. People have matured and have accepted that it's here to stay. In fact, a lot of doctors have started following the quotation approach and standards of treatments have improved to a great extent," said Vora.
As a result of this the pricing gap between a standalone dentist and Mydentist has decreased though the later would still be marginally lower in pricing as compared to a grade B dentist. The charges at Mydentist (price list also displayed on the company website) range from Rs 300 for cleaning per sitting to Rs 90,000 for clear aligners (clear removable cosmetic appliance designed for minor teeth movement of patients).
Elucidating the different category of doctors in the dentistry field, Vora said there are grade A doctors focusing only on the elite clientele and hence quote exorbitantly high charges. "Then there is grade C catering to larger number of people in the lower middle-class category at a significantly lower cost than the grade A practitioners. Then there are the likes of charitable trusts and government hospitals that operate at an almost negligible cost. So we target the audience between the average middle-class and the charitable trust," said Vora.
Interestingly the venture was never envisaged with the idea of making it the largest dental clinic chain in the country. The six clinic chain (undisclosed funding from family) was earlier operated under the banner Total Dental Care and sometime in January 2010, Vora's ex-employer Anand Lunia (angel investor and founder of IndiaQuotient) suggested taking the private equity route if he wanted the business expand from six to 100 or more clinics.
An introduction to Seedfund was facilitated by Lunia post which the angel investor incubated the idea. The first thing Seedfund did was to get on board book evangelist, mentor and business consultant R Sriram (erstwhile CEO & MD of Crossword Bookstore). During his six months with TDC, Sriram structured the entire business, design as well as coined the brand name Mydentist.
"There was a complete change from pre-incubation stage. The entire language and communication was framed early-on post the incubation including the logo and the brand name," said Vora.
The existing six clinics thus had to shut down to bring in the consistency in offerings and brand standards being laid down under the new identity. The first Mydentist branded outlet was opened in Vile Parle (Mumbai) in April 2011.
"Pre-incubation, I don't think we had the structural knowledge to run a business that would grow to this magnitude. Today we have around 250 doctors, 60 consultants, over 200 support staff. We'll be adding 5 clinics to the portfolio taking the total number to 50 clinics to by the end of this month. This concrete business as is visible to the market today would not have been possible without inputs from the fund, consultants and individual mentors," confesses Vora.
A 300 square foot Mydentist clinic calls for an overall investment of Rs 35 lakh of which majority (Rs 20 lakh) goes into buying imported equipment (from vendors in India). Two doctors work three shifts in the day. On an average the Mydentist chain gets close to 8,000 patients every month and the number is set to reach 10,000 patients per month by June end. Each centre will take 18-20 months to breakeven. The nature of treatments sought by most patients are pretty much the same -- root canal, scaling, polishing, crowns and bridges and other common treatments -- as any other standalone dental clinic would provide. The clinic has started offering orthodontics services and has tied-up with financial institutions to offer and EMI scheme as orthodontics tend to be expensive.
Not sharing commercial details of the business, Vora said that revenues have increased over three times when compared with the peak revenue figures of the pre-incubation stage.
Seeing potential in the business idea, a new fund - Asian Healthcare Fund by the Burman family, promoters Dabur Group - has invested Rs 40 crore in Mydentist. As a result, the ownership of TDC is now equally shared between the promoters and the two angel investors.
The funds raised will largely be used for growth as the company is targeting 100 clinics by March 2014 and 150 clinics in another 18 months from now. The new additions will also happen in Mumbai and Pune while cities like Ahmedabad and Surat are being considered as well.
A production engineer armed with a masters in management studies (MMS) in marketing from Mumbai University, Vikram Vora slogged it out for over three (2005-2009) in his family business selling dental materials like any other management graduate. He would wait for hours at the dental clinics for his turn to make a sales pitch and in the process identified a huge gap -- lack of transparency between patients and doctors -- that left a lot of patients dissatisfied with the treatments rendered.
Vora also realised that the awareness level about dental treatments among patients was very low. Adding to their confusion (before committing for a particular treatment) was the fact that doctors would very rarely educate them about various aspects related to the treatment. His analysis of the situation brought out the fact that in the entire process, the patient would not get to know what was the problem, why it happened, what are the optional treatments, what is the best and least expensive procedure, what is the right (affordable) option to go for, how much time will it take to heal etc.
"I believed if somebody could create a service and bridge this gap, it would be a great success. And that is how the entire idea of Mydentist evolved and achieved the current status in the market today," said 34 year old Vora who co-founded Total Dental Care Pvt Ltd (TDC) with his brother Parth. With 45 dental clinics in Mumbai and Pune, TDC is India's largest multi-speciality dental clinic chain.
What sets Mydentist clinics apart from other standalone dental centres is the fact that it offers a standardised and published rate card for all its services - something that was not standard practice in India untill recently. Dentists are employed on monthly salaries (Rs 16,000 for entry level), instead of the usual profit-sharing model, and work in shifts of four hours each.
"We started the trend of offering quotations for every treatment being offered. The approach initially received negative feelers from the industry but that's not the situation now. People have matured and have accepted that it's here to stay. In fact, a lot of doctors have started following the quotation approach and standards of treatments have improved to a great extent," said Vora.
As a result of this the pricing gap between a standalone dentist and Mydentist has decreased though the later would still be marginally lower in pricing as compared to a grade B dentist. The charges at Mydentist (price list also displayed on the company website) range from Rs 300 for cleaning per sitting to Rs 90,000 for clear aligners (clear removable cosmetic appliance designed for minor teeth movement of patients).
Elucidating the different category of doctors in the dentistry field, Vora said there are grade A doctors focusing only on the elite clientele and hence quote exorbitantly high charges. "Then there is grade C catering to larger number of people in the lower middle-class category at a significantly lower cost than the grade A practitioners. Then there are the likes of charitable trusts and government hospitals that operate at an almost negligible cost. So we target the audience between the average middle-class and the charitable trust," said Vora.
Interestingly the venture was never envisaged with the idea of making it the largest dental clinic chain in the country. The six clinic chain (undisclosed funding from family) was earlier operated under the banner Total Dental Care and sometime in January 2010, Vora's ex-employer Anand Lunia (angel investor and founder of IndiaQuotient) suggested taking the private equity route if he wanted the business expand from six to 100 or more clinics.
An introduction to Seedfund was facilitated by Lunia post which the angel investor incubated the idea. The first thing Seedfund did was to get on board book evangelist, mentor and business consultant R Sriram (erstwhile CEO & MD of Crossword Bookstore). During his six months with TDC, Sriram structured the entire business, design as well as coined the brand name Mydentist.
"There was a complete change from pre-incubation stage. The entire language and communication was framed early-on post the incubation including the logo and the brand name," said Vora.
The existing six clinics thus had to shut down to bring in the consistency in offerings and brand standards being laid down under the new identity. The first Mydentist branded outlet was opened in Vile Parle (Mumbai) in April 2011.
"Pre-incubation, I don't think we had the structural knowledge to run a business that would grow to this magnitude. Today we have around 250 doctors, 60 consultants, over 200 support staff. We'll be adding 5 clinics to the portfolio taking the total number to 50 clinics to by the end of this month. This concrete business as is visible to the market today would not have been possible without inputs from the fund, consultants and individual mentors," confesses Vora.
A 300 square foot Mydentist clinic calls for an overall investment of Rs 35 lakh of which majority (Rs 20 lakh) goes into buying imported equipment (from vendors in India). Two doctors work three shifts in the day. On an average the Mydentist chain gets close to 8,000 patients every month and the number is set to reach 10,000 patients per month by June end. Each centre will take 18-20 months to breakeven. The nature of treatments sought by most patients are pretty much the same -- root canal, scaling, polishing, crowns and bridges and other common treatments -- as any other standalone dental clinic would provide. The clinic has started offering orthodontics services and has tied-up with financial institutions to offer and EMI scheme as orthodontics tend to be expensive.
Not sharing commercial details of the business, Vora said that revenues have increased over three times when compared with the peak revenue figures of the pre-incubation stage.
Seeing potential in the business idea, a new fund - Asian Healthcare Fund by the Burman family, promoters Dabur Group - has invested Rs 40 crore in Mydentist. As a result, the ownership of TDC is now equally shared between the promoters and the two angel investors.
The funds raised will largely be used for growth as the company is targeting 100 clinics by March 2014 and 150 clinics in another 18 months from now. The new additions will also happen in Mumbai and Pune while cities like Ahmedabad and Surat are being considered as well.
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