By IANS,
New Delhi : The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed acquisition of the nutrition business of pharmaceuticals firm Wockhardt by global dairy major Danone.
The deal worth Rs.1,575 crore would see Danone acquiring Wockhardt’s nutrition business, brands as well as operational assets related to the business. This has been approved by the competition watchdog.
“The commission is of the opinion that the proposed combination is not likely to have an adverse effect of competition in India and therefore the commission hereby approves the proposed combination,” said the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
The acquisition will be made by Danone’s wholly owned subsidiaries G&K Baby Care and Danone Asia Pacific Holdings from Wockhardt’s fully owned entity Carol Info Services which runs the nutrition business.
Wockhardt owns brands like Farex, Protinex, Dexolac and Nusobee.
Present in over 120 countries, Danone mainly operates in the food sector and has four main product divisions — bottled water, fresh dairy products, baby food and medical nutrition.
The proposed acquisition would transfer the nutrition business relating to protein-based supplement products, in-licenced pre-biotic and pro-biotic products, and child nutritional products of Wockhardt Group to G&K and Danone Asia Pacific, group companies of Danone SA.
Though the Indian nutraceutical industry is still in nascent stages, it is growing at a much faster rate than the global nutraceutical sector in the last three years.
A growing working population, greater health awareness, higher disposable incomes are the key drivers of growth of the sector.