Astra Pharma to buy India arm pie

Swedish firm Astra Pharmaceutical will buy out the remaining less than 10 per cent stake in its local arm Astrazeneca Pharma India by next year following approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

Astra Pharmaceutical, which owns 91.6 per cent of Astrazeneca Pharma India, has got the approval to buy out the rest of the stake by January 2005, sources said.

Earlier, the Swedish drugmaker got the government approval to increase its stake from 56.4 per cent to 100 per cent, amounting to Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million), through purchase of 21,75,050 equity shares either through a public offer or from the open market.

So far, Astra Pharamaceutical has acquired 45,80,491 equity shares of Rs 10 each of the total paid up capital of the Indian company.