Morepen Labs soars 10% as drugmaker looks to sell OTG biz

NEW DELHI: Shares of Morepen Laboratories rose nearly 10 per cent in Friday's trade amid reports that the New Delhi-based company was in talks with the Ajay Piramal Group to sell its over-the-counter (OTC) brands such as Burnol. The company is considering the plan in a bid to monetise some of its mainstream brands when larger rivals are expanding their consumer product portfolio.

The stock climbed 9.87 per cent to hit a high of Rs 27.25 on BSE. This was still far from its 52-week high of Rs 41.80 the stock hit in January this year. ET quoted multiple sources as saying, "Morepen has mandated Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to run a formal process and the negotiations are at quite an advanced stage."

On source told ET while the company has received interest from several contenders, including some of the large buyout funds and strategic players, talks with the Piramal Group have advanced quite a bit. The source said the the transaction might conclude within a couple of months.