Torrent Pharma gets patchy

Torrent Pharma’s latest acquisition does not seem to have gone well with the market. The stock opened 2% lower at Rs.1502 and went down 5.5% to an intraday low at Rs.1449.25.

The company announced acquisition of the Chennai-based leading dermatology player Curatio Healthcare for Rs.2,000 crore, which also includes Rs.115 crore (on the date of signing) of cash and cash equivalents in the acquired business indicating an Enterprise Value of ?1,885 crore.

Though this builds up the company’s dermatology portfolio, many fund managers and analysts are not convinced.

Kotak Institutional Equities is the most vociferous, lowering its target from Rs.1515 to Rs.1600, saying in its report that the deal is too pricey and is 5-9% EPS dilutive over FY2023-25E'.