All our businesses are well positioned for growth : CS Muralidharan, Sun Pharma

"We are committed to deploy the appropriate resources to work with the special committee and advisors that were appointed by the Taro board so that we can look forward to an efficient closing of this proposed transaction," says CS Muralidharan, CFO, Sun Pharma.

Before I come to your numbers, let me start by asking you about the Taro acquisition itself. After almost 10 years, these plans are getting revived. Could you talk to us about what went behind this particular decision and what kind of synergies do you see?
So as per the timing is concerned, you will be aware that there have been some buybacks done even earlier in the last couple of years and now we thought that overall these transactions were complete and will benefit both the organisations and that is why we have submitted our indicative offer to the Taro board.

What is the timeline of this acquisition completion and also, what is the initial feedback from other minority investors towards this move?
We are committed to deploy the appropriate resources to work with the special committee and advisors that were appointed by the Taro board so that we can look forward to an efficient closing of this proposed transaction. As far as the timelines are concerned, this transaction is of course subject to final approval by the boards of both the companies and then execution of definitive agreements and more importantly regulatory approvals including any relevant antitrust approvals that may be required.

Not really committing to any timeline as far as this deal is concerned. But the performance of Taro itself has been a bit muted over the last few years. Once you take over this 100% stake, do you expect a material re-rating?
At this point of time, Taro has not given any specific guidance as such and continues to be a public company. So we will be unable to offer any comment on the future performance of Taro either on the current asset basis or even if the transaction goes through. It is too early to comment.

Coming to your own business at Sun, how is the FY24 overall guidance which you have kept it at single digit growth is being termed a bit conservative by the way from the street perspective. What exactly is making you sceptical?
We have guided for a high single digit consorted top line growth FY24. I do appreciate and we understand that all our business are well positioned for growth including our global speciality revenues which are expected to further ramp up and continue to grow. But our overall revenue guidance does incorporate several other possible scenarios and that is one of the reasons we have guided for a high single digit consolidated top line growth.

Is the US pricing pressure one of those factors as well because that has been plaguing the entire industry? How long before you think the entire pricing issue stabilises in the US?
Price erosion in the US has been continuing always and then we have maintained it product specific and portfolio specific but the market continues to remain competitive and I do not think that is one of the key factors which led to this guidance. But one of the factors could be but not the main factor.