NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Aurobindo Pharma on Monday said it has inked a pact to divest Natrol, a wholly-owned unit of its US-based subsidiary, to private equity firm New Mountain Capital for USD 550 million (around Rs 4,048 crore).
Aurobindo Pharma had acquired Natrol in December 2014.
The drug firm has reached a definitive agreement to sell Natrol, a unit of Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc, to an affiliate of New Mountain Capital to combine with Jarrow Formulas, Aurobindo Pharma said in a statement.
The all-cash transaction is valued at USD 550 Million (or Rs 4,048 crore at the current exchange rate), it added.
Subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close by January 2021, the Hyderabad-based firm said.
Natrol’s annual sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2020, stood at around USD 157 million.
Natrol has been a consistently profitable business, growing on all fronts under Aurobindo’s ownership, the drug firm said.
“Aurobindo is committed to evaluating and concluding strategic options towards focused portfolio enhancement with the ultimate objective of enhancing stakeholder values. We are pleased to sell the Natrol business to an outstanding private equity player, who could focus additional resources to grow Natrol, its products and brands further,” Aurobindo Pharma Managing Director N Govindarajan said.
He added that proceeds from Natrol’s divestiture will be used to reduce debt and other new strategic initiatives.
Founded in 1980 as a cosmetics company, Natrol has evolved over the past several decades into a pioneer in nutraceuticals segment. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday entered the rapidly-growing cloud communications market with the launch of business-centric ‘Airtel IQ’.
A cloud-based omni-channel communications platform, Airtel IQ, aims to enable brands to deepen engagement with customers through timely and secure communication, a company statement said, terming the move as a “game changer” for the fast-evolving Indian enterprise communication segment.
The Indian cloud communications market, estimated at USD 1 billion, is seen growing nearly 20 per cent annually.
Airtel IQ aims to eliminate the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels, and already companies including Swiggy, Justdial, Urban Company, Havells, Dr. Lal Path Labs and Rapido have signed up as customers for Airtel IQ in the beta phase.
The platform, now commercially available, runs on a pay-as-you-go model meaning that the costs for enterprises would depend on the consumption levels.
“With just a slice of code, businesses can embed communication services such as voice, SMS, IVR (interactive voice response) in their applications and digital properties across desktop and mobile, all through a unified platform,” the statement said.
Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO – Airtel Business said that the new platform could translate into 30-40 per cent cost reduction for enterprises as compared to traditional models.
Airtel expects large call centre ecosystem, e-commerce and internet companies, start-ups, banks and those into manufacturing and distribution to be early adopters of the platform, given their need for omni-channel communications.
Citing an example, Airtel said, for a customer ordering food through an online platform and calling the delivery agent to find out the status of her order, the entire communication is conducted seamlessly and securely over Airtel IQ. The communication is encrypted and all mobile/telephone numbers are masked.
Airtel IQ has been fully developed by Airtel’s in-house engineering teams.
“Natively integrated into telco grade infrastructure and architected by top digital talent, Airtel IQ is robust, secure, cost-efficient and intuitive,” the Airtel statement said.
Airtel is a large player in the business-to-business connectivity space and serves over one million businesses with a portfolio that spans connectivity, cloud, security and collaboration and data centre solutions.
Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, said “Airtel IQ is first amongst several game changing products that we will be bringing to the market”.
Businesses are increasingly looking to cloud-based digital platforms to engage with consumers and Airtel IQ is built to raise the bar, Nair added. (PTI)

Berlin, Oct 26: German health care company Bayer said Monday it is buying Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, a US-based firm specializing in gene therapy, in a deal worth up to USD 4 billion.
Bayer said it will pay USD 2 billion up front for privately held AskBio plus “potential success-based milestone payments” of up to another USD 2 billion.
About three-quarters of the latter are expected to be due over the next five years, it added.
AskBio is headquartered at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and has facilities in Edinburgh, Paris and San Sebastián, Spain.
The acquisition will allow Bayer to advance “the establishment of a cell and gene therapy platform that can be at the forefront of breakthrough science, contributing to preventing or even curing diseases caused by gene defects and further driving company growth in the future,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said.
Bayer said it will own full rights to AskBio’s gene therapy platform, but AskBio “will continue to operate as an independent company on an arm’s-length basis.”
Regulatory approval is required for the transaction, which is expected to close during the current quarter.(AGENCIES)

Tokyo, Oct 26:Asian shares were mostly lower in muted trading Monday amid widespread uncertainty over what the US presidential election will portend for markets and economic policy.
Investors remain worried over surging cases and deaths related to COVID-19, especially in parts of the U.S. And Europe, and the implications for trade, tourism and economic activity.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 inched down 0.1 per cent to 23,495.21, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5 per cent to 2,348.54.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell nearly 0.2 per cent to 6,155.60.
The Shanghai Composite index declined 1.1 per cent to 3,243.60.
Markets in Hong Kong were closed for holidays.
“Asia markets remain pacing the floor awaiting the US presidential election passage, commencing with muted moves going into the start of the week,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist with IG in Singapore.
US stock indexes closed mostly higher last week. They bounced between small gains and losses, a familiar pattern recently as traders keep an eye on negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington over more economic aid.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she’s not giving up on passing another coronavirus relief economic package before the November 3 election.
She said she sent a list of concerns to the Trump administration on Friday and was told she would get answers on Monday.
At issue is a huge virus relief bill that would send another USD 1,200 direct payment to most Americans, restart bonus unemployment benefits, fund additional testing and vaccines, provide aid to schools and allocate money to state and local governments, a Democratic priority.
One major concern is that if the election’s outcome is uncertain, that would further delay help for the economy as mounting numbers of coronavirus cases raise the likelihood of further disruptions for businesses.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent to 3,465.39, its second straight gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1 per cent, to 28,335.57.
The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, gained 0.4 per cent to 11,548.28, while the Russell 2000 index rose 0.6 per cent to 1,640.50.
In energy trading, US benchmark crude lost 87 cents to USD 38.98 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It lost 79 cents to USD 39.85 per barrel on Friday.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 89 cents to USD 40.88 a barrel.
The US dollar inched up to 104.88 Japanese yen from 104.71 yen late Friday.
The euro cost USD 1.1833, down from USD 1.1861.(AGENCIES)

Los Angeles, Oct 26: Recording artiste Rapper Iggy Azalea has confirmed her split from fellow rapper Playboi Carti with whom she shares son Onyx.
The Australian artiste, whose real name is Amethyst Kelly, also posted the first pictures of the baby boy on Instagram, while revealing she will raise the four-month-old “alone”.
“You lost a real 1 People take loyalty for granted & that’s why I’d rather be alone. (sic)” Azalea wrote on her Instagram Story over the weekend.
The rapper later clarified her earlier post saying the couple has parted ways.
“What I meant last night was that I’m raising my son alone & I’m not in a relationship. (sic)” the “Fancy” star said.
In June, she confirmed the birth of her son amid pregnancy rumours.
Azalea and Carti, whose real name is Jordan Carter, started dating in 2018.
Azalea recently announced the title of her upcoming album, ‘End of an Era’, which is slated to be released later this year. (PTI)