Morepen Labs to get Rs 433 crore from Corinth, promoters

Shareholders also approved 50 million fully convertible warrants to a promoter group company Liquid Holdings Private Limited at Rs.38 per warrant/share aggregating up to Rs. 190 crores for cash to be converted into equity within 18 months, within the limits prescribed in SEBI (SAST) Regulations for acquisition of share/ voting rights in a financial year. The issue price of aforesaid securities is derived as per pricing formula prescribed by SEBI in SEBI (ICDR) Regulations.

The meeting of the shareholders of Morepen Laboratories was held on 20 th May, 2021 through video conferencing and other audio visual means. Shareholders also overwhelmingly voted to approve the resolution for issuance of convertible equity shares and warrants as proposed by the Board, over 99.97% voted in favour of the proposal.

This EGM was the next step for inclusion of Corinth Group, a global private investment Group, headquartered in Switzerland, which announced an extended USD 32.50 million in Morepen Laboratories Limited, out of a total USD 100 million investment in the promoter group.

Mr. Sushil Suri, Chairman and Managing Director, Morepen Labs Ltd. said, "The investment by Corinth further bolsters our position as a market leader in Indian healthcare, it also endorses our approach in the self-diagnostic tools category along with the scale and potential of the API market. It is a testing time for life sciences and pharmaceutical companies, in these challenging times we are all geared to enhance our capacities and also expand our markets".

Sir Christopher Pissarides, Chairman of Corinth Group's Advisory Board and Nobel Prize laureate (2010) in Economics, had said, "The investment into Morepen follows from our increased focus on emerging markets, and in particular the health and pharmaceutical industry. India is a key global market with significant growth opportunity, and we look forward to working with management to help the business develop while catering to a rapidly growing sector."

Speaking about the opportunities that the Indian market presents, Mr. Andreas Matsas, CEO of the Corinth Capital Fund said, "We are bullish about the Indian market and have already started the process of setting up a dedicated full-service office in Delhi, India, through a wholly owned subsidiary which will be functional in May 2021. We are actively working towards setting up an AIF, in line with Indian regulatory requirements, to cater to the Indian market. Our Investment into Morepen Group establishes Corinth's long-term commitment to the Indian market, with ongoing investments of another USD 200 million in the Agri and Logistics sector undergoing due diligence."

The Total Fund Infusion in Morepen Laboratories Ltd, including investor funds and promoter's equity would be used in:

a) The expansion/scaling up of the company's R&D centre/facilities to meet the significantly enhanced Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) demand, a market size of US$40 billion, that Morepen has in the pipeline for the next 3 years

b) Setting up new USFDA standard API plant to meet the significant ramp up in scale and pipeline the company is working on

c) Establishing a facility for Finished Dosages as per USFDA standards at Morepen's pharma complex in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, to cater to highly sophisticated/regulated markets such as the USA and Japan

d) Investment into diagnostics facilities including the manufacture of critical inputs/components/enzymes to meet regulated market standards. India is seeing an exponential jump in household spend on Point of Care/Home Diagnostics and Oxygen Concentrators and other life support systems with demand currently outstripping supply

e) Investment in new products and brands under the Dr Morepen umbrella, an existing household brand, to leverage its pan India distribution/supply chain and exponential growth in online sales

f) Investment in new age Personal Care/Skin Care brands "Gubb" and "Happier", as well as to leverage Pan India pharmacy/retail chain network to significantly scale up distribution