IQuest buys Viatris’ Indian API operations

IQuest Enterprises has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) operations of global pharmaceutical major Viatris in India. This acquisition will also mark the return of serial entrepreneur Nimmagadda Prasad to the pharma industry after a 17-year hiatus.

IQuest, the investment arm of Prasad’s family, emerged as the preferred investor following a global competitive bid. The said operations include a total of six large scale API manufacturing facilities, including three in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It has one unit each in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, and an R&D facility in Hyderabad as its third-party API sales.

A significant part of the team at IQuest Enterprises was involved with some of the present facilities when it was operating as part of Matrix Labs which was divested in 2006 to Mylan. Subsequently in 2020 Mylan was merged with another entity to be renamed as Viatris. Its API units posted $700-million (about Rs 5,824 crore) revenues last fiscal year.

While Prasad is the chief advisor and patron at IQuest Enterprises, his daughter Gunapati Swathi Reddy is acting as Executive Director of the company. She said, “We are excited about our largest investment in the pharmaceutical sector till date. Our investment comes at an opportune time when India is drawing significant attention amongst the global pharma industry. It is also a happy homecoming, in more ways than one, for some of us who have been part of the journey over the last two decades.”

iQuest Enterprises is a multi-sector investment company with a proven track record of pharmaceutical and healthcare investments. The investments include AIG Hospitals, CARE Hospitals and Celon Laboratories among others.

Prasad has earlier developed significant businesses to scale and creating enhanced shareholder value. Some of these businesses include Matrix Laboratories (divested in 2006), CARE Hospitals (divested in 2012) and Maa TV (divested in 2015).