Natco Pharma is scouring for acquisitions in the US and Rest of the World (RoW) markets, according to its Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Nannapaneni.
“We are working on it (acquisition). As of now, as of December 31, 2024, we have ₹3,264 crore of cash and shares of liquidity investments and we have about ₹241 crores of debt. So, net cash would be ₹3000 crore,’‘ Nannapaneni said.
According to him, Natco Pharma would strengthen its front-end business in the US and also wants to boost its presence in the RoW region and is “actively looking’‘ at buys in the two geographies in the therapeutic, prescription pharmaceuticals segments.
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As of now, Natco’s RoW business is doing “reasonably well”, and it is also expecting almost 7-8 approvals the coming year. Some “good” products were also lined up for launch in Canada and the Middle East, he added.
US tariffs
On a way out of the proposed increase in tariffs on imports from India by the Trump-led US Administration, Natco CEO said: “The only escape is you need to buy front-end manufacturing in the US. That’s the only solution.’‘ It was also possible for the Hyderabad-based drug-maker to move manufacturing of some products to the US, which could be a “Plan B if there were tariffs,’‘ he added in the Q3 earnings call.
Natco recorded consolidated total revenue of ₹651.1 crore for the Q3 FY25 that ended December 31, 2024, as against ₹795.6 crores for the same period last year. Net profit for the period on a consolidated basis was ₹132.4 crores as against ₹212.7 crores same period last year.