Private equity fund True North acquires minority stake in Bengaluru-based Anthem Bio

Home grown private equity fund True North has acquired a minority stake in Bengaluru-based Anthem Biosciences – pharmaceutical research, development, and manufacturing company.

True North has agreed to acquire about 8% stake in Anthem Bio for $85 million, said people aware of the development.

Set up by ex-Biocon executive Ajay Bharadwaj, Rs.1200-crore Anthem Biosciences competes with Biocon owned Syngene International and Hyderabad based GVK Bio.


Outbidding global buyout funds, private equity fund True North is all set to acquire a minority stake in Anthem Biosciences, ET reported in January.

Others who were in the race include US funds Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Singapore based Temasek Holdings.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company offers integrated services across the pharmaceutical sector from discovery to development & manufacturing, to global innovator pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company has over 1,400 employees and It operates two manufacturing facilities near Bengaluru.

“Healthcare and Lifesciences has been a focus sector for True North with investments of $700 mn in the sector till date. We have been closely following the growth story of Anthem Biosciences and are impressed with the progress the team has made in becoming a globally competitive player in the fast-growing CDMO (contract development and manufacturing company) industry," said
Satish Chander, Partner, True North.

True North had acquired about 10% stake in Syngene in early 2015. Later, True North divested its entire stake through public market sale in 2017 after Synegene got listed in 2016.

Areas in the pharmaceuticals sector like contract research, API/ bulk drug manufacturing in India gained a lot of traction from private equity investors.

India remains the preferred destination in the global pharmaceuticals market, for outsourcing drug research & manufacturing and getting benefit from low cost labour.

Global funds such as General Atlantic and Temasek have invested in contract research space in India with investments such as Rubicon Research and Biocon backed Syngene International, respectively.

A spike in demand for pharma products, induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and hoarding of supplies by some nations in the wake of production disruptions, have boosted exports, said a recent Crisil report.

Private equity and venture capital investments in health care and life sciences space stood at $2.5 billion, registering a 26.94 percent increase in 2020 compared to a year ago period, according to data compiled by Venture Intelligence, an industry tracker.